Angelina Jolie has double mastectomy

Angelina Jolie announced to the New York Times on Tuesday that she underwent a double mastectomy after learning she carried the mutation of the BRCA1 (breast cancer susceptibility gene) gene, which heavily increases the chances of developing breast and ovarian cancer.

Jolie’s doctor estimated that she had an 87% chance of developing breast cancer and a 50% chance of developing ovarian cancer. Although the risk is different for each woman, Jolie decided to be proactive and minimize her efforts, especially since her mother died of ovarian cancer in 2007.

The actress went through 3 months of mastectomies and reconstruction in order to remove all parts of her breasts. She says that her chances of developing breast cancer have lowered from 87% to 5%.