anGELINA JOLIE’S DECISION TO GO PUBLIC ABOUT HER DOUBLE MASTECTOMY LED TO A DOUBLING IN NHS REFERRALS FOR GENETIC TESTS OF BREAST CANCER RISK, A NEW STUDY HAS FOUND.The actress’s announcement in May last year coincided with an immediate uplift in GP referrals to family history clinics, with referral rates two-and-a-half times higher in June and July than in the same period in 2012.
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Researchers said that the "Angelina Jolie effect" lasted until at least October last year.
Genetic testing is used to determine whether women with a family history of breast cancer carry mutations of specific genes, which significantly increase breast cancer risk and are believed to be responsible for between five and 10 per cent of all breast cancers.
Ms Jolie’s decision to have both breasts removed was based on a positive test for a mutation of the BRCA1 gene. Her mother had died of breast cancer, and her aunt died only two weeks after the actress revealed she had undergone a mastectomy.
The procedure is only recommended for patients with a very high risk of breast cancer. A mutation of the BRCA1 or BRCA2 genes give women between a 45 and 90 per cent chance of developing breast cancer. Other gene mutations are also known to increase risk.
A double mastectomy can reduce risk of breast cancer by 90 per cent in people at high risk of the condition, but is not recommended for people at a lower risk.
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