The American actress carries a gene associated with an increased risk of cancer. At 37, she underwent a double mastectomy and removal of the ovaries to prevent the onset of the disease.
-1640879507.jpg "How Angelina Jolie finds herself at the center of a tremendous advance in medicine")
- People with the BRCA1 gene mutation have a 65% risk of getting breast cancer.
- Children of carriers have a 50% risk of inheriting the genetic mutation.
- Breast cancer is the leading cause of cancer death in women.
Angelina Jolie gave her name to a genetic mutation, that of the BRCA1 gene. It is associated with a higher risk of cancer in women, especially of the ovaries and breasts. Recently, a research team developed a technique that could predict the cancer risk of people who carry this mutation. This would avoid undergoing preventive surgeries to avoid cancer. The results of this study were published in Cell Reports.
Fallopian tubes grown in the lab
This recent study was co-authored by Dr. Beth Karlan, a professor at the University of California, Los Angeles. She was the doctor of Angelina Jolie’s mother, Marcheline Bertrand. “Having taken care of Angelina Jolie’s mother, I just wanted Angelina to be there to see her children grow.“, she explains to the DailyMail. With her team, she cultivated fallopian tubes in the laboratory to observe cellular evolutions, designed with the cells of women carrying the genetic mutation and having developed cancer.
The scientist found that in the presence of the genetic mutation, the cells divide more and form abnormal growths. Clive Svendsen, co-author of the study, points out: “our data supports recent research indicating that ovarian cancer in these patients begins with cancerous lesions in the lining of the fallopian tubes. If we can detect these abnormalities early on, we may be able to short-circuit the cancer.” The next step will be for scientists to grow fallopian tubes from cells of women who carry the genetic mutation but have not yet developed cancer, which would allow them to understand why some women escape the disease.
Preventive operations
In 2013, Angelina Jolie signed a platform in the New York Times where she announced that she had undergone a double mastectomy, a removal of the breasts. In this text, titled My medical choice, she explained that she was a carrier of the BRCA1 genetic mutation. His mother died of cancer, after having suffered from it for ten years.
Two years later, Angelina Jolie underwent another operation to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed. Other women carrying this gene make this choice, without knowing whether they would have developed cancer or not in the absence of the operation.
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