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Angelina Jolie has had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed as a preventative measure against cancer.
Writing in the New York Times, Angelina Jolie said she chose to have the surgery as she carries a gene that gave her a 50% risk of developing ovarian cancer.
In 2013, Angelina Jolie, whose mother died from cancer, had a double mastectomy.
“It is not easy to make these decisions,” she said.
“But it is possible to take control and tackle head-on any health issue.”
In the article, titled Angelina Jolie Pitt: Diary of a Surgery, the 39-year-old actress wrote about the procedure, saying: “It is a less complex surgery than the mastectomy, but its effects are more severe. It puts a woman into forced menopause.”
Angelina Jolie, who is also a director and UN envoy, will now take hormone replacements.
She elected to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed after a check-up which put her in the clear from showing the early stages of ovarian cancer, but showed she still at risk of developing the disease which also killed her grandmother and aunt.
“My doctors indicated I should have preventive surgery about a decade before the earliest onset of cancer in my female relatives,” wrote Angelina Jolie.
“My mother’s ovarian cancer was diagnosed when she was 49. I’m 39.”
Angelina Jolie, who is married to Brad Pitt, has six children, three of whom are adopted.
“Regardless of the hormone replacements I’m taking, I am now in menopause. I will not be able to have any more children, and I expect some physical changes.
“But I feel at ease with whatever will come, not because I am strong but because this is a part of life. It is nothing to be feared.”
Angelina Jolie added: “It is not possible to remove all risk, and the fact is I remain prone to cancer. I will look for natural ways to strengthen my immune system. I feel feminine, and grounded in the choices I am making for myself and my family.
“I know my children will never have to say: <<Mom died of ovarian cancer>>.”
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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.
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A discovery about how cells die could lead to ways to protect fertility in women having cancer treatment, researchers suggest.
Australian scientists found two specific proteins caused the death of early egg cells in the ovaries.
Blocking them meant cells survived the effects of radiotherapy, according to the study published in the journal Molecular Cell.
The researchers from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute, Monash University and Prince Henry’s Institute of Medical Research looked at egg cells called primordial follicle oocytes, which provide each woman’s lifetime supply of eggs.
A discovery about how cells die could lead to ways to protect fertility in women having cancer treatment
They found that, when the DNA of cells is damaged through chemotherapy or radiotherapy, two proteins called Puma and Noxa cause the eggs to die.
This causes many female cancer patients to become infertile.
Low numbers of egg cells can also lead to a woman going through an early menopause.
When these cells were manipulated so they did not have the Puma protein, they did not die after being exposed to radiation therapy.
Prof. Jeff Kerr, from Monash University, who worked on the study said: “This might ordinarily be cause for concern because you want damaged egg cells to die so as not to produce abnormal offspring.”
But he added: “To our great surprise we found that not only did the cells survive being irradiated, they were able to repair the DNA damage they had sustained and could be ovulated and fertilized, producing healthy offspring.
“When the cells were also missing the Noxa protein, there was even better protection against radiation.”
Prof. Clare Scott, from the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research, who also worked on the lab and animal research, added: “It means that in the future, medications that block the function of Puma could be used to stop the death of egg cells in patients undergoing chemotherapy or radiotherapy.
“Our results suggest that this could maintain the fertility of these patients.”
The researchers said that the discovery could also mean it would be possible to slow the loss of egg cells from the ovaries, thereby delaying early menopause.
