Angelina Jolie made right decision: Cancer Experts

March 26, 2015  22:42

Cancer experts are applauding actress Angelina Jolie Pitt for going public with her decision to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed because she carries a gene mutation, BRCA1, that greatly increases her risks.

Ovarian cancer is so hard to detect that it is often found at an advanced, untreatable stage. But having the procedure Jolie Pitt underwent removes those risks.

Health experts also credit the actress’s decision to discuss her own choices so frankly, saying it will encourage women in similar situations to take control of their own health and consider their own options, The New York Times reports. 

BRCA mutations cause about up to 10 percent of breast cancers and up to 15 percent of ovarian cancers, oncologists note.

“Prophylactic removal of ovaries and fallopian tubes is strongly recommended in women before age 40 in BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers,” said Susan Domchek, M.D., executive director of the University of Pennsylvania’s Basser Research Center. “There is no effective screening for ovarian cancer and too many women with advanced stage ovarian cancer die of their disease.”

Writing for The New York Times op-ed page, Jolie Pitt, 39, said underwent the procedure sooner rather than later, noting her mother, aunt, and grandmother died of cancer.

“To my relief, I still had the option of removing my ovaries and fallopian tubes and I chose to do it,” she wrote.

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