Angelina Jolie cut off her breast after learning she had an 87% risk of breast cancer

Angelina Jolie has revealed she has had a preventative double mastectomy after tests showed she had an 87% chance of contracting breast cancer.
The actress made the decision to undergo the procedure in February after learning that she is a carrier of the BRCA1 cancer gene.

The 37-year-old's mother Marcheline Bertrand died at the age of 56 from ovarian cancer, which Angelina revealed she has a 50% chance of contracting.

Writing in an editorial piece entitled 'My Medical Choice' in the New York Times, Angelina said: 'My doctors estimated that I had an 87% risk of breast cancer and a 50% 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% risk of getting it, on average.

'Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize 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.
 

'My chances of developing breast cancer have dropped from 87 percent to under 5 percent. I can tell my children that they don’t need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer

 

WHAT IS A PREVENTATIVE MASTECTOMY?

Preventive mastectomy is the surgical removal of one or both breasts. It is done to prevent or reduce the risk of breast cancer in women who are at high risk of developing the disease.

In a total mastectomy, doctors remove the entire breast and nipple, while in a subcutaneous mastectomy, the doctor removes the breast tissue but leaves the nipple intact.

Existing data suggests that the treatment may significantly reduce the chances of developing tumors by about 90per cent.

Many choose to have breast reconstruction to restore the shape of the breast following surgery.