There has been a significant increase in the number of women requesting double mastectomies after being diagnosed with breast cancer. Some people are even calling it “the Angelina effect” after Angelina Jolie, who had a double mastectomy after finding out she was a carrier of the BRCA1 gene. The BRCA1 gene increases the risk for breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Jolie explained in an op-ed piece that her having the BRCA1 gene mutation gave her an estimated 87 percent risk of developing breast cancer and 50 percent risk of developing ovarian cancer.
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