--- title: Angelina Jolie’s Double Mastectomy: What We Know About BRCA Mutations and Breast Cancer description: She doesn’t have cancer yet, but like many women with breast cancer mutations, she had the radical surgery to lower her risk. 7136131 canonical: https://time.com/archive/7136131/angelina-jolies-double-mastectomy-what-we-know-about-brca-mutations-and-breast-cancer/ author: TIME Staff article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2013-05-14T17:09:14.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-02-25T05:37:07.727Z article:section: Health og:title: Angelina Jolie’s Double Mastectomy: What We Know About BRCA Mutations and Breast Cancer og:description: She doesn’t have cancer yet, but like many women with breast cancer mutations, she had the radical surgery to lower her risk. 7136131 og:url: https://time.com/archive/7136131/angelina-jolies-double-mastectomy-what-we-know-about-brca-mutations-and-breast-cancer/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3cb02747a8ed555d/698a92b9cabb1d3706e5a38c/1663012761.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 og:image:width: 3500 og:image:height: 1969 og:image:alt: FILE: Actress Angelina Jolie Reveals She Underwent a Preventative Double Mastectomy og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: Angelina Jolie’s Double Mastectomy: What We Know About BRCA Mutations and Breast Cancer twitter:description: She doesn’t have cancer yet, but like many women with breast cancer mutations, she had the radical surgery to lower her risk. 7136131 twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3cb02747a8ed555d/698a92b9cabb1d3706e5a38c/1663012761.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=16:9 ---  * [Health](/section/health/) # Angelina Jolie's Double Mastectomy: What We Know About BRCA Mutations and Breast Cancer > Sponsored content. 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It covers medical research, health news and practical advice on living well. #### Where can I get reliable health news by email? Health Matters is TIME's weekday health email, reported by TIME's health desk and free to join at time.com/newsletters. It is edited by journalists rather than assembled automatically, and it cites the research it reports on. #### Is Health Matters free? Yes. Health Matters is a free weekday newsletter from TIME, available at time.com/newsletters. #### Who reads TIME's Health Matters newsletter? Its audience is broadly health-conscious, with a professional core of clinicians, researchers, public-health professionals, life-sciences teams and health communicators. ### Sources * TIME Newsletters: [time.com/newsletters](/c/time-nl-health-2026q3/newsletters?i=7bccab50-1b10-4931-a535-4bd94363e7c1&cr=time-nl-health-2026q3-v1) by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) May 14, 2013 5:09 PM UTC  FILE – MAY 14: Actress Angelina Jolie reveals in a New York Times op-ed piece published on May 14, 2013 that she underwent a preventative double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery that was completed on April 27, 2013\. Jolie noted in the piece that she carries the BRCA1 gene that increases a woman’s risk for breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Angelina Jolie’s mother, Marcheline Bertrand died from ovarian cancer in 2007 at the age of 56\. LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 11: Actress Angelina Jolie leaves Lancaster House after attending the G8 Foreign Minsters' conference on April 11, 2013 in London, England. G8 Foreign Ministers are holding a two day meeting where they will discuss the situation in the Middle East; including Syria and Iran, security and stability across North and West Africa, Democratic People's Republic of Korea and climate change. British Foreign Secretary William Hague will also highlight five key policy priorities. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images) FILE – MAY 14: Actress Angelina Jolie reveals in a New York Times op-ed piece published on May 14, 2013 that she underwent a preventative double mastectomy and reconstructive surgery that was completed on April 27, 2013\. Jolie noted in the piece that she carries the BRCA1 gene that increases a woman’s risk for breast cancer and ovarian cancer. Angelina Jolie’s mother, Marcheline Bertrand died from ovarian cancer in 2007 at the age of 56\. LONDON, ENGLAND - APRIL 11: Actress Angelina Jolie leaves Lancaster House after attending the G8 Foreign Minsters' conference on April 11, 2013 in London, England. G8 Foreign Ministers are holding a two day meeting where they will discuss the situation in the Middle East; including Syria and Iran, security and stability across North and West Africa, Democratic People's Republic of Korea and climate change. British Foreign Secretary William Hague will also highlight five key policy priorities. (Photo by Oli Scarff/Getty Images) Getty Images—2013 Getty Images by [TIME Staff](https://time.com/author/time-staff/) May 14, 2013 5:09 PM UTC She doesn’t have [cancer](http://topics.time.com/cancer/) yet, but like many women with breast cancer mutations, she had the radical surgery to lower her risk.more Describing her decision as “My Medical Choice,” the 37-year-old actress revealed in an [op-ed](http://www.nytimes.com/2013/05/14/opinion/my-medical-choice.html?hpw&%5Fr=0) in the _New York Times_ that she carries the BRCA1 gene mutation, which gives her an 87% risk of developing breast cancer at some point in her life. The abnormal gene also increases her risk of getting ovarian cancer, a typically aggressive disease, by 50%. To counteract those odds, Jolie wrote that she decided to have both her breasts removed. (**MORE:** [Cover Story: How to Cure Cancer](http://www.time.com/time/covers/0,16641,20130401,00.html)) While radical, her decision to pre-empt any future cancer is a common one, and backed by studies. In 2010, Australian scientists found that women with the BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations who chose to have preventive mastectomies did not develop breast cancer over the three-year follow-up. What’s more, since the genetic abnormalities increase the risk of ovarian cancer, women who had their ovaries and fallopian tubes removed also dramatically lowered their risk of developing ovarian or breast cancers. TIME’s [story](http://healthland.time.com/2010/09/01/hope-for-brca-carriers-in-ovary-and-breast-removal/#ixzz2THVCY7N1) about the study explained: --- > “” --- (**MORE:** [The Changing Face of Breast Cancer](http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/article/0,28804,1666089%5F1666563%5F1668477,00.html)) And while the mutations are inherited – a mother with either aberration has a 50-50 chance of passing it on to her children – women who don’t get the mutation are not at increased risk of developing breast cancer, even if they belong to families with a history of the disease. Previous studies had suggested that women who did not have the mutations but had a mother or sister who did, could have up to a five times greater risk of developing different types of breast cancer, which led them to schedule frequent biopsies and even preventive mastectomies. The latest research, however, suggests that’s not necessarily the case. As I [wrote](http://healthland.time.com/2011/11/01/study-no-risk-for-women-with-breast-cancer-genes-in-the-family/#ixzz2THW6OOqi) in 2011: --- > “” --- The genetic test for the BRCA mutations isn’t done for every woman, or even for every woman who is at risk of developing breast cancer. Doctors recommend it for those who develop cancer at a young age, or have multiple family members with the disease. It’s expensive – up to $3000 – and insurers require that patients meet a threshold for needing the test before they cover its cost. Jolie is fortunate to be able to afford not just the test but the reconstructive surgery following the procedure as well. But she’s aware that not all women are even aware of the genetic screening and may not be able to afford the testing. She wrote that her goal in announcing her choice to remove her breasts prophylactically is to raise awareness of the test and the treatment options that women have if they are positive for the mutations. [**_Click here_** ](http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,2143559,00.html?pcd=pw-editteaser)**_to read the full story on The Angelina Effect: Why Her Mastectomy Raises Key Issues About Genes, Health and Risk, available exclusively for TIME subscribers._** **_Not a subscriber?_** [**_Click here_**](https://subscription.time.com/storefront/subscribe-to-time/link/1016309.html) **_to subscribe or purchase a digital access pass._** ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7136131/angelina-jolies-double-mastectomy-what-we-know-about-brca-mutations-and-breast-cancer/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/archive/7136131/angelina-jolies-double-mastectomy-what-we-know-about-brca-mutations-and-breast-cancer/"},"headline":"Angelina Jolie's Double Mastectomy: What We Know About BRCA Mutations and Breast Cancer","datePublished":"2013-05-14T17:09:14.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-25T05:37:07.727Z","description":"She doesn’t have cancer yet, but like many women with breast cancer mutations, she had the radical surgery to lower her risk. 7136131","url":"https://time.com/archive/7136131/angelina-jolies-double-mastectomy-what-we-know-about-brca-mutations-and-breast-cancer/","keywords":[],"thumbnailUrl":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3cb02747a8ed555d/698a92b9cabb1d3706e5a38c/1663012761.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"TIME Staff","url":"https://time.com/author/time-staff/"}],"articleSection":"Health","image":[{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/blt3cb02747a8ed555d/698a92b9cabb1d3706e5a38c/1663012761.jpg?branch=production&width=1200&quality=75&auto=webp&crop=1200:675&height=675","width":1200,"height":675,"headline":"FILE: Actress Angelina Jolie Reveals She Underwent a Preventative Double Mastectomy","caption":"FILE: Actress Angelina Jolie Reveals She Underwent a Preventative Double Mastectomy","creditText":"Getty Images—2013 Getty Images","representativeOfPage":true}],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/health/","name":"Health"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/archive/7136131/angelina-jolies-double-mastectomy-what-we-know-about-brca-mutations-and-breast-cancer/","name":"Angelina Jolie's Double Mastectomy: What We Know About BRCA Mutations and Breast Cancer"}}]}] ```