Angelina Jolie Cancer Story – Breast Removal Mastectomy Surgery

Angelina Jolie Cancer Story – Breast Removal Mastectomy Surgery

Learn about Angelina Jolie cancer story. It’s not unusual that human interest stories covering a specific health issue can lead to an increased interest in a particular health service. These surges in awareness are however generally quite short-lived.

But in May 2013 Angelina Jolie revealed that she carried a maternally inherited pathogenic BRCA1 mutation and had undergone surgery to remove the risk of developing breast cancer, known as bilateral risk-reducing mastectomy (BRRM). The story was covered by all kinds of news outlets for several weeks.

Angelina Jolie lost her mother, grandmother and aunt to cancer and decided to take matters into her own hands to spare her children the grief of losing their mother too. The honest and very informative nature of ‘My Medical Choice’ increased awareness of familial cancer in the community and encouraged women to consider genetic testing.

Having a fault in BRCA1 means that woman has a 40-85% risk of developing breast cancer and a 40-60% risk of ovarian cancer. Speaking about Angelina’s journey and recovery, she said: ‘To a large extent, I believe recovery reflects expectation. Angelina expected to feel well, to be active. The US actress, who had her ovaries removed in 2015 and a double mastectomy in 2013, spoke emotionally about how grateful she was for being given information about different types of cancer treatment.

Jolie’s first operation, on 2 February, was a “nipple delay”, a procedure in ruling out the presence of cancerous cells in the milk ducts around the nipple in women who have decided to preserve their nipples while almost all their breast tissue is removed during the mastectomy. Due to her revelation of a genetic cancer risk, several high-risk women are going in for tests to check if they have certain genes linked to breast and ovarian cancers, new Canadian research has found. Doctors are calling this “The Angelina Jolie Effect.”

Angelina Jolie Cancer Story – Breast Removal Mastectomy Surgery

Angelina Jolie Cancer Story

Angelina Jolie after learning about her own genetic predisposition to breast cancer and made her diagnosis and treatment very public she unknowingly urged thousands of women to follow her lead. The announcement of her surgery was maybe more galvanizing than any recent pink-tinted campaign. Evans and colleagues published the study in the journal Breast Cancer Research, suggesting that “The Angelina Jolie Effect has been long lasting and global”. Angelina now says she is in forced menopause, aged just 39, and she won’t be able to have any more children.

BRCA1 Gene in Angelina Jolie Family DNA

BRCA1 is a gene involved in repairing DNA by a pathway known as homologous recombination. About 1 in 1000 people carry a fault in the BRCA1 gene that they have inherited in one of their two copies. Sadly, in the case of BRCA1 mutations, genetics does rule, by and large. We’ve already seen that for breast cancer, depending on the specific BRCA1 mutation, the lifetime risk of cancer can be as high as 90%. Carriers of the BRCA1 gene, like Hollywood star Angelina Jolie, can reduce their risk of death once they have been diagnosed with breast cancer by having their ovaries removed. Though Jolie brought her mutation out of the genome and into the limelight, the percentage of women potentially in Jolie’s is much smaller than you might expect.

Angelina Jolie Breast Cancer Prevention

Angelina Jolie had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed in an effort to prevent cancer. Angelina Jolie-Pitt announced that she had surgery to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes to reduce her risk for cancer. She took a decision to have a double mastectomy after testing positive for a mutation in the BRCA1 gene that greatly increased her risk for breast and ovarian cancer. The announcement has sparked renewed conversation in the medical world and media about the decision-making process that leads to preventive surgeries for women at risk for breast and ovarian cancer.

Double Mastectomy (Breast Removal Surgery)

Angelina Jolie had undergone bilateral prophylactic mastectomies because of her BRCA1 mutation. The actress’s decision to undergo a double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery have improved the public’s understanding of the operations, experts in Austria found. In May 2013, Angelina Jolie had both breasts surgically removed after discovering she carries a genetic mutation that dramatically increases the chance of being diagnosed with potentially fatal breast cancer.

Angelina Jolie Cancer Doctor

Dr. Kristin Funk, a surgical oncologist at the Pink Lotus Breast Center in Beverly Hills, a clinic that she co-founded with her husband performed Angelina Jolie’s double mastectomy in 2013. Angelina Jolie’s surgeon has revealed in detail the treatment the 37-year-old actress had before, during and after her preventative mastectomy procedure. The first stage, says Dr. Funk, is to gather data and information. ‘BRCA stands for Breast Cancer.

Angelina Jolie Cancer Charity

Cancer charities have applauded Angelina Jolie for her “brave” decision to reveal that she has had surgery to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes. Jolie and her husband Brad Pitt have donated around $30 million through their foundation over the past decade, mostly to health, education, conservation, and sustainable development efforts. The Maddox Jolie-Pitt Project in Cambodia has received the bulk of their support, though they have also supported a variety of conservation efforts in developing countries, education in war-torn areas, and criminal justice efforts. Angelina Jolie Charity work mainly addresses the issues like abuse, adoption, fostering, orphans, AIDS & HIV, Cancer, disaster relief, Education, Refugees, Poverty, Human Trafficking, Women, Health, Environment, and Literacy. Being a star she never laid back watching her status, but took the responsibility to give back to the people and hence took up the charity and from day one addressed the above issues and worked on spreading awareness among the people about those issues.

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