I had double mastectomy – Ange
Angelina Jolie has undergone a double mastectomy.
The 37-year-old actress – whose mother Marcheline Bertrand died in 2007 after battling ovarian cancer for a decade – took the decision to have both of her breasts removed as a preventative measure after discovering that she carries the BRCA1 cancer gene, which dramatically increases the risk of developing certain cancers.
Writing in the New York Times, Jolie 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 minimise 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 27 April, 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."
She revealed that her surgeries – which included a reconstruction process – were successful, and doctors say her chances of developing breast cancer are now less than five per cent.
"I wanted to write this to tell other women that the decision to have a mastectomy was not easy. But it is one I am very happy that I made."
The actress – who has children Maddox (11), Pax (9), Zahara (8), Shiloh (6), and four-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne with fiance Brad Pitt – paid tribute to the actor for helping her through her treatment and revealed her children were one of the main reasons she had the surgery.
She said: "I can tell my children that they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer.
"It is reassuring that they see nothing that makes them uncomfortable. They can see my small scars and that’s it. Everything else is just Mommy, the same as she always was.
"I am fortunate to have a partner, Brad Pitt, who is so loving and supportive. So to anyone who has a wife or girlfriend going through this, know that you are a very important part of the transition. Brad was at the Pink Lotus Breast Center, where I was treated, for every minute of the surgeries.
"We managed to find moments to laugh together. We knew this was the right thing to do for our family and that it would bring us closer. And it has."
She continued: "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. 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 also acknowledged that the high cost of gene testing – $3000 in the United States – remains an obstacle for many women, and said: "It has got to be a priority to ensure that more women can access gene testing and lifesaving preventive treatment, whatever their means and background, wherever they live."
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