Will the "Angelina effect" strike again?
Drs. Maureen Trudeau and Andrea Eisen, both affiliate scientists in the Odette Cancer Research Program, comment on the news that actress Angelina Jolie underwent a preventive surgery to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes to reduce her risk of ovarian cancer. Jolie carries a mutation in the breast cancer susceptibility gene BRCA1 that puts her at an increased risk for developing breast and ovarian cancer. In 2013, she announced that she had undergone a preventive double mastectomy after testing positive for the BRCA1 gene mutation. Eisen led a study in 2014 that found in the six months following Jolie’s announcement, there was a 90% increase in the number of women referred for breast cancer genetic testing — a phenomenon dubbed the "Angelina effect". Eisen plans to conduct a follow-up study to see if Jolie's latest announcement will, once again, encourage women to participate in genetic screening.
» Watch Dr. Trudeau’s interview on CTV
