Angelina Jolie- Actress, Humanitarian Activist, Partner, Mother of Six, and a Carrier of BRCA1 gene had a double mastectomy
to take preventative measure to insure her children will never have to
go through what she did with her mother, Marcheline Bertrand who died in
2007 at age 56 of cancer.
The Cancer Institute of Stanford Medicine says women with the BRCA1
gene have an average of a 65 percent lifetime risk for breast cancer,
along with heightened risk of the cancer at an early age.
“I choose not to keep my story private because there are many women
who do not know that they might be living under the shadow of cancer,”
Jolie said in the Times article. “It is my hope that they, too, will be
able to get gene tested, and that if they have a high risk they, too,
will know that they have strong options.”
Jolie said three months of medical procedures including the
mastectomies and a reconstructive surgery were completed April 27.
Angelina decided on the radical preventative measure after she was
tested for the gene and doctors told her that she had an 87 percent
risk of breast cancer, along with a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer.
Not only did she manage to keep the procedure a secret from the
public, she also attended to her scheduled engagements which include
public appearances and a trip for the UN
-->
