Angelina Jolie reveals she has had a double mastectomy after learning she had an 87% risk of breast cancer

Angelina Jolie has revealed she has had a preventative double mastectomy after tests showed she had an 87% chance of contracting breast cancer. The actress made the decision to undergo the procedure in February after learning that she is a carrier of the BRCA1 cancer gene. The 37-year-old's mother Marcheline Bertrand died at the age of 56 from ovarian cancer, which Angelina revealed she has a 50% chance of contracting.

Writing in an editorial piece entitled 'My Medical Choice' in the New York Times, Angelina said: 'My doctors estimated that I had an 87% risk of breast cancer and a 50% risk of ovarian cancer, although the risk is different in the case of each woman. 'Only a fraction of breast cancers result from an inherited gene mutation. Those with a defect in BRCA1 have a 65% risk of getting it, on average.'Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much I could. I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy. 

'I started with the breasts, as my risk of breast cancer is higher than my risk of ovarian cancer, and the surgery is more complex.

ANGELINA'S BRAVE JOURNEY

February 2nd - Angelina begins three months of treatments prior to undergoing a preventative double mastectomy, starting with a 'nipple delay, which rules out disease in the breast ducts behind the nipple and draws extra blood flow to the area'

February 16th - The actress undergoes the major surgery - an eight hour operation which sees the breast tissue removed before temporary fillers are put in place

March 26th - Angelina is pictured in the Republic of Congo with William Hague following the initial operation

April 4th - Angelina attends the Women in the World Summit in New York looking in good spirits

April 11th - Angelina is pictured with William Hague at the G8 Summit in London 

April 20th - Angelina has the final operation as her breasts are reconstructed with implants

April 27th - The mother-of-six completes the medical process. She is told that the surgery was a success and her chances of contracting breast cancer have now been reduced from 87% to less than 5%

May 14th - Angelina reveals her decision in an editorial piece published in the New York Times newspaper