Gear Live Celebrity and Entertainment News: Articles Tagged Double Mastectomy

Angelina Jolie Has Double Mastectomy

Angelina Jolie has undergone a double mastectomy.

The 37-year-old actress - whose mother Marcheline Bertrand died in 2007 after battling ovarian cancer - took the decision to have both of her breasts removed despite being healthy, as she has been found to have the BRCA1 cancer gene, giving her an 87 per cent chance of developing breast cancer and 50 per cent risk of ovarian cancer.

Writing in the New York Times, Angelina said, "My doctors estimated that I had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer, although the risk is different in the case of each woman. Only a fraction of breast cancers result from an inherited gene mutation. Those with a defect in BRCA1 have a 65 percent risk of getting it, on average. Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much I could. I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy. I started with the breasts, as my risk of breast cancer is higher than my risk of ovarian cancer, and the surgery is more complex. On April 27, I finished the three months of medical procedures that the mastectomies involved. During that time I have been able to keep this private and to carry on with my work."

Click to continue reading Angelina Jolie Has Double Mastectomy