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Angelina Jolie has double mastectomy 
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-22520720

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Angelina Jolie has double mastectomy


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.

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

Risk reduced
In an article entitled My Medical Choice, Ms Jolie 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 for a double mastectomy.

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

She praised her partner, 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."

The award-winning actress and director is also a long-time supporter of humanitarian causes. She is currently a UN special envoy.

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 was shot by the Taliban last October.

Ms Jolie has three biological children and three adopted children with Brad Pitt.


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Tue May 14, 2013 6:28 am
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That is a very responsible action, I hope all goes well for her.

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Tue May 14, 2013 6:59 am
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That's all very well but how available are the tests and operations on the NHS? What chance do ordinary people have who have cancer in their family history?

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Tue May 14, 2013 10:03 am
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oceanicitl wrote:
That's all very well but how available are the tests and operations on the NHS? What chance do ordinary people have who have cancer in their family history?

In the UK they can get double mastectomy if there is genetic risk, and family history.

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Tue May 14, 2013 10:05 am
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Amnesia10 wrote:
oceanicitl wrote:
That's all very well but how available are the tests and operations on the NHS? What chance do ordinary people have who have cancer in their family history?

In the UK they can get double mastectomy if there is genetic risk, and family history.


And how easy is it to get a genetic test?

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Tue May 14, 2013 10:08 am
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oceanicitl wrote:
Amnesia10 wrote:
oceanicitl wrote:
That's all very well but how available are the tests and operations on the NHS? What chance do ordinary people have who have cancer in their family history?

In the UK they can get double mastectomy if there is genetic risk, and family history.


And how easy is it to get a genetic test?

You need to have family history of breast cancer, and even then it might be a postcode lottery. Other than that I have no idea.

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Tue May 14, 2013 10:10 am
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It may be a postcode lottery, I was tested before my diagnosis and I didn't have the gene, just the cancer. I believe that if you have a history of it in your family you can get the testing done via your GP, but it may depend where you are. Nuneaton and Bedworth seem to have been brilliant in just about everything I've thrown at them.

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Tue May 14, 2013 10:17 am
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oceanicitl wrote:
And how easy is it to get a genetic test?

I don't know about on the NHS (perhaps our resident doctor might know) but you can get one done privately for £65. You just spit in a tube and post it off.

https://www.23andme.com/

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Tue May 14, 2013 10:17 am
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The main point though is : Do you want to know?
Both my mother and my grandmother have had aggressive breast cancer, due to my health condition and medication I take, I have even higher risk of "women" cancers.
If I did the test and found out I had the gene I'm not sure how well I'd cope with everyday life. :S


Tue May 14, 2013 10:36 am
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TheFrenchun wrote:
The main point though is : Do you want to know?
Both my mother and my grandmother have had aggressive breast cancer, due to my health condition and medication I take, I have even higher risk of "women" cancers.
If I did the test and found out I had the gene I'm not sure how well I'd cope with everyday life. :S


+1

Mum, Dad, Aunt and Uncle have all had cancer and 2 of them have died from it and my Uncle is currently very ill with the same cancer my Dad had.

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Tue May 14, 2013 10:40 am
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I guess it depends on your personal situation. I always want to know, the uncertainty would be far worse for me than knowing the truth, then making a decision on how to cope and then moving on with my life.

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Tue May 14, 2013 10:41 am
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Zippy wrote:
I guess it depends on your personal situation. I always want to know, the uncertainty would be far worse for me than knowing the truth, then making a decision on how to cope and then moving on with my life.

It definitely depends on lot on your personal conditions. I might want to take the test in 20 years, when the risk is becoming more significant but definitely not now.
Would you get screened for Alzheimer, Parkinsons, Heart conditions?


Tue May 14, 2013 10:46 am
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oceanicitl wrote:
TheFrenchun wrote:
The main point though is : Do you want to know?
Both my mother and my grandmother have had aggressive breast cancer, due to my health condition and medication I take, I have even higher risk of "women" cancers.
If I did the test and found out I had the gene I'm not sure how well I'd cope with everyday life. :S


+1

Mum, Dad, Aunt and Uncle have all had cancer and 2 of them have died from it and my Uncle is currently very ill with the same cancer my Dad had.

In my family only my late uncle had cancer but then he was a 100 a day smoker and a very heavy drinker as well, so he was really playing with loaded dice. The rest of my family seem to die of other causes.

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Tue May 14, 2013 11:04 am
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TheFrenchun wrote:
Zippy wrote:
I guess it depends on your personal situation. I always want to know, the uncertainty would be far worse for me than knowing the truth, then making a decision on how to cope and then moving on with my life.

It definitely depends on lot on your personal conditions. I might want to take the test in 20 years, when the risk is becoming more significant but definitely not now.
Would you get screened for Alzheimer, Parkinsons, Heart conditions?

I have already been screened for Parkinsons and diagnosed with a very mild form of it characterised by the tremors. I'm expecting it to get worse as I age but without the diagnosis the Doctors wouldn't be able to monitor and treat me faster than otherwise. I have also been screened for heart disease because I've been overweight for most of my life, not Alzheimers yet but given the scrambled mess the chemo has made of my brains I'm not sure they'd find anything definitive.

I'm considered a medical oddity, amongst other things I have the rarest blood type, I can't convert vaccines to anti-bodies and I react unusually to normal medications so I tend to be poked and proded in the name of research at least once a year, even were this not the case I would still rather get screened for everything and rule stuff out (or prepare for it) than spend my life not knowing, especially if the people related to me were having problems.

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Tue May 14, 2013 12:17 pm
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Women who develop breast cancer esp early usually have the gene tested for. If it's positive, they're advised to inform their family. The clinical genetics lab will then screen the whole family as appropriate. Obviously there's confidentiality issues eg what happens if a mother has the brca1 gene but doesn't want her daughters to know.

Remember had the brca1 gene is genetic and there are only certain women with breast cancer who have it. If they're young and it's aggressive, they're more likely to have it. As an example, I'm looking after a woman who's 30 and has developed breast cancer and it has already metastasise. She's very likely to have the gene. Compare this to someone in their 60s and has a discrete tumour - very unlikely.

TBH there's contention within the medical profession as to whether the current breast screening programme is actually effective.

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