Home Tags Posts tagged with "brca1 gene"
brca1 gene
Debbie Martin, Angelina Jolie’s aunt, has died of breast cancer, nearly two weeks after the Hollywood star said she had had a double mastectomy to avoid such a fate.
Debbie Martin passed away at the Palomar Medical Centre in Escondido on Sunday, aged 61, the hospital said.
She was the sister of Angelina Jolie’s mother Marcheline Bertrand, who died of breast cancer in 2007 at the age of 56.
Her husband, Ron Martin, said the sisters had both had the same mutated BRCA1 gene, which Angelina Jolie inherited.
Debbie Martin, Angelina Jolie’s aunt, has died of breast cancer, nearly two weeks after the Hollywood star said she had had a double mastectomy
“Angelina has been in touch throughout the week and her brother Jamie has been with us, giving his support day by day,” Ron Martin told E! News.
“They both loved Debbie very much and although Angie is not able to come right now she has sent her love and support which was very nice.”
Ron Martin also praised Angelina Jolie for electing to have a double mastectomy, telling the Associated Press: “Had we known, we certainly would have done exactly what Angelina did.”
On May 14, Angelina Jolie, 37, wrote in the New York Times that she had had a double mastectomy after doctors estimated she had an 87% risk of breast cancer and a 50% risk of ovarian cancer.
“I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much I could,” the actress explained, adding that her chances of developing breast cancer had now dropped to less than 5%.
The BRCA1 gene is present in everyone but only mutates in one in 1,000 people. Anyone with the mutation has a 50-80% chance of developing breast cancer.
[youtube TWJRU5FVjQo]
Ann Curry reportedly failed to land the first interview with Angelina Jolie since the actress made headlines by announcing her voluntary double mastectomy.
NBC executives had been pressuring Ann Curry, 56, to secure the interview with Angelina Jolie, who Curry has interviewed in the past along with the actress’ partner Brad Pitt.
Angelina Jolie, 37, announced May 14 in an opinion piece in The New York Times that she had undergone a preventative double mastectomy after learning she had the faulty BRCA1 gene that gave her an 87% chance of breast cancer.
Ann Curry and Angelina Jolie reportedly have grown a close friendship as a result of their interviews over the years and the NBC brass was hoping to score an exclusive.
Angelina Jolie turned down Ann Curry as well as all other news outlets for the time being, according to the New York Post.
Ann Curry was fired from NBC’s Today show last year and Angelina Jolie made it clear that she wouldn’t consent to an interview with anyone at NBC except for Curry, who is now a correspondent for the network.
Ann Curry failed to land the first interview with Angelina Jolie since she made headlines by announcing her voluntary double mastectomy
The NBC executives wanted Ann Curry to set up a two-hour primetime special with Angelina Jolie with parts airing on the Today show.
Ann Curry returned to live TV on Wednesday night for the first time since being axed from the Today show.
She filled in for anchor Brian Williams on the NBC Nightly News and showed off a new short hairdo.
Ann Curry’s shorter hair previously got her in trouble with her NBC bosses because she didn’t notify management that she was changing her appearance and it was viewed as an act of defiance.
Angelina Jolie made her stunning revelation in an op-ed piece titled My Medical Choice.
The actress outlined her reasons for getting the double mastectomy upon learning of her elevated risks for breast and ovarian cancers.
Angelina Jolie’s mother, Marcheline Bertrand, died at age 56 of ovarian cancer in 2007.
The actress said with her double mastectomy she can tell her six children that they won’t lose her to breast cancer.
Angelina Jolie also said she plans to have her ovaries removed to reduce her risk of ovarian cancer.
Brad Pitt has revealed he felt he was wasting his life on drugs while he was married to Jennifer Aniston.
In yet another blow to his ex-wife Jennifer Aniston, Brad Pitt makes it clear that before he met Angelina Jolie on the set of Mr. and Mrs. Smith in 2004, his life had little meaning.
Brad Pitt, 49, who has previously admitted to ma*****na use, was married to Friends star Jennifer Aniston for seven years until 2005.
In an interview with the new issue of Esquire magazine, brad Pitt says: “For a long time I thought I did too much damage – drug damage. I was a bit of a drifter. A guy who felt he grew up in something of a vacuum and wanted to see things, wanted to be inspired. I followed that other thing. I spent years f***ing off.
“But then I got burnt out and felt that I was wasting my opportunity. It was a conscious change. This was about a decade ago. It was an epiphany.”
Brad Pitt also spoke about his decision to shrink his circle of friends he could spend as much time as possible with Angelina Jolie and their six children – Maddox, 11, Pax, 9, Zahara, 8, Shiloh, 6, and 4-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne – and he has never been happier.
The actor admitted: “I have very few friends. I have a handful of close friends and I have my family and I haven’t known life to be any happier.
“I’m making things. I just haven’t known life to be any happier.”
Brad Pitt fully supported Angelina Jolie’s decision to have a double mastectomy in February after learning she had an 87% chance of developing breast cancer because she carries the BRCA1 gene mutation.
Angelina Jolie, 37, went ahead with the operation so she can be around for her kids and Brad Pitt insists they can be no better motivation as the couple love the ‘chaos’ of their big household and the bond they all share.
Brad Pitt has revealed he felt he was wasting his life on drugs while he was married to Jennifer Aniston
He explained: “I always thought that if I wanted to do a family, I wanted to do it big. I wanted there to be chaos in the house … there’s constant chatter in our house, whether it’s giggling or screaming or crying or banging.
“I love it. I love it. I love it. I hate it when they’re gone. I hate it. Maybe it’s nice to be in a hotel room for a day – <<Oh, nice, I can finally read a paper>>. But then, by the next day, I miss that cacophony, all that life.”
Brad Pitt graces the cover of the publication, and can be seen looking as hunky as ever in a black top and wrinkled jeans, with aviator sunglasses covering his face.
His trademark long golden hair flops around his shoulder as he casually grips a camera in one hand.
Brad Pitt praised Angelina Jolie as “heroic” after she published a piece in the New York Times revealing she had undergone the double mastectomy on Tuesday.
“We set up our own little post-op recovery that became pretty fun. You make an adventure out of it,” Brad Pitt later told USA Today.
“I’m quite emotional about it, of course,” the actor said.
“She could have stayed absolutely private about it and I don’t think anyone would have been none the wiser with such good results.
“But it was really important to her to share the story and that others would understand it doesn’t have to be a scary thing. In fact, it can be an
empowering thing, and something that makes you stronger and us stronger.”
Angelina Jolie will play her own mother in a biopic of the late actress Marcheline Bertrand, who died from ovarian cancer in 2007.
Angelina Jolie, 37, who last week revealed she had undergone a voluntary double mastectomy, will star in the film produced by Plan B, the production company set up by devoted partner Brad Pitt.
Like her daughter, Marcheline Bertrand devoted herself to humanitarian causes, including helping women Afghan refugees and launching the Give Love Give Life organization to help fight gynaecological cancers.
When Marcheline Bertrand died from ovarian cancer aged just 56, it came as a huge loss to the talented actress, who has much in common with her mother.
But just a few years later, those similarities took on a more sinister tone when Angelina discovered she had inherited the faulty BRCA1 gene.
Doctors told the mother-of-six that she had an 87% chance of developing breast cancer and a 50% chance of ovarian cancer as a result of the gene.
Angelina Jolie then elected to undergo a double mastectomy, a decision Brad Pitt described as “heroic”.
He said: “Having witnessed this decision first hand, I find Angie’s choice, as well as so many others like her, absolutely heroic.
“I thank our medical team for their care and focus.
“All I want for is for her to have a long and healthy life, with myself and our children.
“This is a happy day for our family.”
Angelina Jolie will play her own mother in a biopic of the late actress Marcheline Bertrand, who died from ovarian cancer in 2007
Angelina Jolie has announced she also now plans to have a hysterectomy and oophorectomy, where the ovaries are removed to further decrease her chances of developing cancer.
She said: “I started with the breasts, as my risk of breast cancer was higher than my risk of ovarian cancer and the surgery is much more complex.”
The procedure would rule out any further children for her and 49-year-old Brad Pitt. They already have three biological children: daughter Shiloh and four-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne.
They are also parents to their adopted children Maddox, 11, Pax, 9 and 8-year-old Zahara.
Marcheline Bertrand, who was raised in Illinois by a French-Canadian father, married Midnight Cowboy star Jon Voight when she was a 21-year-old actress.
After the births of son James in 1973 and Angelina in 1975, she quit her acting career.
However, she and Jon Voight split in 1976 due to his infidelity.
Angelina Jolie grew up to be a wild teenager, and her mother was no disciplinarian, permitting the 14-year-old Angelina to bring her boyfriend to live in their home.
Marcheline Bertrand was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in 1999, the same year as Angelina Jolie’s Hollywood breakthrough in the film Girl, Interrupted.
Marcheline Bertrand’s final wishes were said to be that Angelina Jolie would marry Brad Pitt, and she chose the name Pax, which Angelina gave to the Cambodian boy she adopted six weeks after her mother’s death.
Marcheline Bertrand is also remembered in the middle name of her granddaughter Vivienne.
Writing in the New York Times last week, Angelina Jolie paid an emotional tribute to her mother.
She wrote: “My mother fought cancer and died at 56.
“She held out long enough to meet the first of her grandchildren and to hold them in her arms.
“But my other children will never have the chance to know her and experience how loving and gracious she was.”
New reports reveal that Angelina Jolie is now planning to have her ovaries removed, following a double mastectomy after discovering she’s a carrier of the BRCA1 gene.
Angelina Jolie, 37, made the brave decision to have three months of secret procedures after being told she had an 87% chance of contracting breast cancer.
Now, the actress is said to already be planning her next surgery – the removal of both her ovaries – as the gene means she has a 50% chance of developing ovarian cancer.
According to People magazine, Angelina Jolie is likely to have the next procedures before she turns 40, as doctors recommend having the surgery done after child-bearing age.
After the surgery, Angelina Jolie will no longer be able to have biological children, although she still has the option to adopt.
Angelina Jolie and her fiancé Brad Pitt currently have three biological children, Shiloh, 6, and 4-year-old twins Knox and Vivienne, and three adopted children, Maddox, 11, Pax, nine, Zahara, 8.
The View host Barbara Walters revealed on the show on Tuesday that she had both of her ovaries removed after her sister died from ovarian cancer.
Angelina Jolie is now planning to have her ovaries removed, following a double mastectomy after discovering she’s a carrier of the BRCA1 gene
Barbara Walters explained: “It’s not like having the breasts removed because people don’t see it. But it’s a decision you have to make – it’s preventative.”
Angelina Jolie’s decision to remove her ovaries will likely be fuelled by the fact that she lost her mother, Marcheline Bertrand, to ovarian cancer at the age of 56.
Marcheline Bertrand died in January 2007 after an 8-year battle with the disease.
Prior to her passing, Marcheline Bertrand founded a charity called Give Love Give Life which spread awareness of the condition.
Angelina Jolie’s mother and her colleagues at the charity also successfully campaigned for Johanna’s Law to fund education into gynecological illnesses and got it signed into statute in the US.
Angelina Jolie revealed her decision to have the double mastectomy by writing an op-ed in the New York Times on Tuesday.
[youtube u9uKg7qgPEY]
Jon Voight, Angelina Jolie’s father, revealed he learned about her preventive double mastectomy on the internet along with the rest of the world.
Jon Voight, 74, who reconciled with Angelina Jolie after a 10 year feud in 2011 praised his “extraordinary” daughter but was understandably surprised – especially as he had seen Angelina just one day before her announcement in the New York Times.
“My love and admiration for my daughter can’t be explained in words,” the actor told the New York Daily News.
“I saw her two days ago with my son Jamie. We all got together for his birthday, with her and Brad [Pitt]. But I didn’t know. It wasn’t obvious at all.
“I found out [Tuesday] morning. I was as surprised as anyone and deeply moved by the way she’s handled this. She’s a very extraordinary person, the way she examined it and what she shared.”
Angelina Jolie made the decision to have the surgery after learning she is a carrier of the BRCA1 gene and had an 87% chance of contracting breast cancer and a 50% risk of getting ovarian cancer.
She continued working throughout three months of procedures and kept them a secret from everyone other than her fiancé Brad Pitt, who was seen leaving a Hollywood studio on Tuesday, and their six children.
Jon Voight, Angelina Jolie’s father, revealed he learned about her preventive double mastectomy on the internet along with the rest of the world
Jon Voight says he “absolutely” respects Angelina Jolie’s choice to keep her decision from him for that time.
“I completely understand,” the actor explained.
“I want the focus to be on the inspiration.”
Jon Voight revealed he spoke to Angelina Jolie on Tuesday and she talked him through what it all means.
“She just explained to me and educated me on this stuff,” he said.
Jon Voight fell out with Angelina Jolie in 2002 when he accused her of having “serious mental problems”, while Angelina criticized him for having an affair behind her mother’s back.
It was Angelina Jolie’s fiancé Brad Pitt who eventually engineered their reconciliation and acted as a go-between.
Speaking in October 2011 Jon Voight claimed he’d had an emotional epiphany and that he began living for his family after everything changed “in a moment”.
“I suddenly saw things differently and everything shifted. That one moment changed my whole life,” he said.
“It gave me back my daughter and my family. Being reunited with my Angie is very precious to me. I adore my grandchildren, they are my great love. It makes me so emotional and grateful.”
