Angelina Jolie Reveals She Has Had Her Ovaries Removed After Cancer Scare
Angelina Jolie has revealed she has had her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed to prevent her from developing ovarian cancer, the same illness that killed her mother at the age of 56.
The actress wrote in detail about the operation she underwent in a New York Times article. "My doctors indicated I should have preventive surgery about a decade before the earliest onset of cancer in my female relatives,” she wrote. "My mother’s ovarian cancer was diagnosed when she was 49. I’m 39.”
It was only two years ago that Jolie had a double mestecomy because she had inherited the faulty BRCA 1 genre, which placed her at high risk of developing breast cancer, and elevated her lifetime risk of developing ovarian cancer. Jolie believed she had time on her side before more surgery to prevent ovarian cancer.
"Then two weeks ago I got a call from my doctor with blood-test results,” Jolie said. Her doctor told Jolie the test she had every year to monitor for ovarian cancer had revealed a number of elevated inflammatory markers, which together could be a sign of early cancer, and to see her surgeon immediately.
“That same day I went to see the surgeon, who had treated my mother,” she wrote. “I last saw her the day my mother passed away, and she teared up when she saw me: ‘You look just like her’. I broke down. But we smiled at each other and agreed we were there to deal with any problem, so ‘let’s get on with it’."
“Nothing in the examination or ultrasound was concerning. I was relieved that if it was cancer, it was most likely in the early stages. If it was somewhere else in my body, I would know in five days. I passed those five days in a haze, attending my children’s soccer game, and working to stay calm and focused.”
When Jolie's PET/CT results came back they looked clear, but her tumour test came back negative, meaning there was still a chance of early on-set cancer. “I still had the option of removing my ovaries and fallopian tubes and I chose to do it,” Jolie wrote.
"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.”
Jolie said she had written about her experience to help raise cancer and testing awareness, and to highlight that there were multiple factors to consider before undergoing surgery.
