(Foreign and Commonwealth Office/Flickr)
Angelina Jolie lit up social media Tuesday morning with her announcement that she recently had a preventive double mastectomy. She took this route, she says, because she carries a specific BRCA1 mutation — putting her at an 87 percent risk of developing breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer. You can read everything about her history in her New York Times piece, “My Medical Choice.”
But the key here is a specific BRCA1 mutation. There are many different mutations that can occur in the BRCA gene. Jolie is very careful to walk through all her personal decisions stemming from her unusually high risk, but emphasizes that “the risk is different in the case of each woman.”
About 10 percent of all breast cancers are due to those many BRCA mutations. Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer with the American Cancer Society, explains in more detail what individual women should consider, in a response to Jolie’s piece:
This does not mean every woman needs a blood test to determine their genetic risk for breast and/or ovarian cancer. What it does mean is women should know their cancer family history and discuss it with their regular provider. If appropriate, they should be referred to and have the opportunity to discuss their risk and their options with a genetic specialist. Continue reading