Angelina Jolie Double Masectomy

[Gob]

One can only give respect to her, for her doing this publicly.

Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie has undergone a double mastectomy to reduce her chances of getting breast cancer.

The 37-year-old mother of six has explained her reasons for having the surgery in the New York Times.

She said her doctors estimated she had an 87% risk of breast cancer and a 50% risk of ovarian cancer. "I decided to be proactive and to minimise the risk as much I could," she wrote.

Her partner, Brad Pitt, praised her choice as "absolutely heroic".

Ms Jolie said the process began in February and was completed by the end of April.

In an article entitled My Medical Choice, she explained that her mother fought cancer for nearly a decade and died at the age of 56.

She said she had sought to reassure her children that the same illness would not take her away from them, "but the truth is I carry a 'faulty' gene, BRCA1, which sharply increases my risk of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer".

She said that once she "knew that this was my reality", she had taken the decision to undergo the nine weeks of complex surgery required to have a double mastectomy, followed by reconstruction of the breasts with implants.

"There have been many advances in this procedure in the last few years, and the results can be beautiful," she wrote.

Her chances of developing breast cancer have now dropped from 87% to under 5%, she said.

She praised her partner, actor Brad Pitt, for his love and support throughout the procedure, and said she was reassured that her children had found nothing in the results "that makes them uncomfortable".

"I feel empowered that I made a strong choice that in no way diminishes my femininity," she said.

"For any woman reading this, I hope it helps you to know you have options," Ms Jolie went on to say.

"I want to encourage every woman, especially if you have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, to seek out the information and medical experts who can help you through this aspect of your life, and to make your own informed choices."

In an interview with the Evening Standard, Brad Pitt said: "Having witnessed this decision firsthand, I find Angie's choice, as well as so many others like her, absolutely heroic.

"All I want for is for her to have a long and healthy life, with myself and our children. This is a happy day for our family."

Ms Jolie, an award-winning actress and director, is also a long-time supporter of humanitarian causes. She is currently a special envoy for the UN Refugee Agency.

During the period she was undergoing the double mastectomy procedure, Ms Jolie visited the Democratic Republic of Congo with UK Foreign Secretary William Hague and attended the G8 summit of foreign ministers in London to raise awareness over sexual violence in conflict.

She also helped launch a charity to fund girls' education set up by the Pakistani schoolgirl activist Malala Yousafzai, who survived being shot by the Taliban last October.

Ms Jolie has three biological children and three adopted children.

Emma Parlons, a 38-year-old mother from London who had the operation three years ago, welcomed her decision to raise awareness of the issue.

Ms Parlons said her risk of getting breast cancer was the same as the actress's. "If somebody said your flight across the Atlantic was 86% likely to come down, you wouldn't get on that plane would you?" she said in an explanation of her reasons for having the operation.

Professor Gareth Evans, of the Manchester Breast Centre in Britain, said the two genes BRCA1 and BRCA2 (breast cancer one and two) "were the first two majorly breast cancer pre-disposing genes that were identified" and are also linked to an increased risk of ovarian cancer.

"The risk associated with the genes isn't simply an exact figure like 87%," he told the BBC.

"It does depend on other risk factors, and so the risk for someone with a BRCA1 mutation could vary anywhere between 50 and 95% for breast cancer."

Currently, women facing a strong likelihood of developing breast cancer have only two real options - to have both of their breasts removed (a double mastectomy) or hope that it will never actually happen.

In January, the drugs watchdog in England and Wales, the National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, recommended women at a high genetic risk of breast cancer should be given the option of taking the drug Tamoxifen, or another one called raloxifene, for five years to cut their lifetime risk of the disease.

[Daisy]

Whilst I admire her bravery in doing this, I do worry that it will make more women with BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations see this as the only way to mitigate the risk of developing breast cancer, instead of investigating drug therapy and watchful waiting.

[Rick]

After developing cancer in one breast a friend of mine had both removed...

[rubato]

She is making a reasonable choice based on the information available. And she is very rich and can pay for the genetic testing (several thousand) and elective surgeries; mastectomy and and reconstruction (tens of thousands, esthetic results will vary based on price).

I don't see how it is 'heroic' to want to live. But I respect that she says it is for her children.

yrs,
rubato

[Daisy]

genetic testing and elective surgeries; mastectomy and and reconstruction

All free at the point of need on the NHS.

I have had the BRCA1 & 2 tests as my maternal grandmother had breast cancer. I had negative results but had decided before I got the results that if I was positive I would NOT go straight for elective surgery and go instead down the route of 6 monthly mammograms and blood tests. I felt that the risks of surgery before a diagnosis outweighed the risks of watchful waiting.

That was my choice, Angelina has made her choice and made it hugely public, hopefully it will encourage more women to get the tests done but with good guidance from their medical team understand all the choices that can be made.

[rubato]

I give her credit for going public so other women will have a role model for a difficult choice. My wife has had a patient who elected for a double mastectomy because of bad genetics so Kaiser will pay for the surgery; I don't know if that is generally true.

The surgery was done by a general surgeon who was also taking out her ovaries at the same time (which is why my wife was there); the results were not very aesthetic and I don't think Kaiser was paying for reconstruction.

yrs,
rubato

[oldr_n_wsr]

Christina Applegate had this done a few years ago.

[Sue U]

I have had the BRCA1 & 2 tests as my maternal grandmother had breast cancer. I had negative results but had decided before I got the results that if I was positive I would NOT go straight for elective surgery and go instead down the route of 6 monthly mammograms and blood tests. I felt that the risks of surgery before a diagnosis outweighed the risks of watchful waiting.

Certainly also a reasonable choice, although you do have to rely on the skill of your radiologist and be sure any lesion is caught before there is any lymph node involvement -- and still the risks of metastasis remain.

But 6 mammograms a month seems excessive (oh, must be that northern grammar ).

[Daisy]

Ooops!! Must be

I understand that Sue, I also understand that the mastectomy still doesn't entirely eradicate the risk of cancer, in fact it can probably lead to a false sense of security that once that's done the cancer can never come. Sadly it still can, which is why they place the prosthetic breast implants behind the muscle wall of the chest.

[dgs49]

In my unique opinion, a "hero" is someone who takes a great personal risk for the benefit of others. Jumping on a hand grenade to save one's comrades, and all that.

Angelina has risked what remains of her career - and absolutely walked away from a portion of it - to PUBLICIZE her decision to have her boobs removed. Her decision could save many, many lives, as she is an example to women who might have declined this option even when called for, out of cosmetic concerns.

I think her decision to come out is heroic.

[Gob]

Daisy has six tits?