Angelina Jolie Plans Oophorectomy Surgery To Reduce Ovarian Cancer Risk | HuffPost Life

Angelina Jolie Plans Further Surgery To Reduce Cancer Risk

The Huffington Post UK

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Just days after Angelina Jolie revealed she has undergone a double mastectomy to reduce her risk of breast cancer, reports suggest that the movie star is planning more surgery.

In an op-ed for The New York Times, the 37-year-old actress revealed that a "faulty" BRCA1 gene put her at an 87% risk of contracting breast cancer.

"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. On April 27, I finished the three months of medical procedures that the mastectomies involved."

According to People magazine, the mother-of-six is now planning to finish what she started, and undergo surgery to remove her ovaries, as the gene means she has a 50% chance of developing ovarian cancer.

The procedure, technically known as an oophorectomy, is commonly performed as part of a hysterectomy, during which the uterus is removed. However, women may opt to have their ovaries removed if there are other health concerns.

Did you know these high-profile individuals have also been affected?

Celebrities Touched By Ovarian Cancer

Coretta Scott King(01 of10)

After U.S. doctors deemed her ovarian cancer terminal, the civil rights pioneer's family and friends said King sought out alternative treatment in Mexico, where she passed away at the age of 78, in 2006. (credit:Getty)

Gilda Radner(02 of10)

The comedic actress, famous for her 1975 to 1980 stint on "Saturday Night Live", died in 1989 from ovarian cancer. She handled the disease as only a comedian could: with humor.As People wrote:

Even as she was dying, Gilda Radner went for laughs. At home, Gene Wilder remembers, she enacted her infamous "Saturday Night" character Roseanne Roseannadanna, shouting at the cancer cells invading her body, "Hey, what are you trying to do in here? Make me sick?"

Her husband, actor Gene Wilder, became active in raising awareness after her death for both early detection and the need for easily accessible support systems for cancer patients, through the organization named for his wife, Gilda's Club. (credit:Getty)

Evelyn Lauder(03 of10)

A champion of breast cancer awareness, Lauder, daughter-in-law of Estee Lauder, created the Pink Ribbon campaign and the Breast Cancer Research Foundation, after her own diagnosis of breast cancer in 1989.While breast and ovarian cancers have been linked to the same hereditary gene, in 2007, Lauder developed ovarian cancer unrelated to her breast cancer, a spokeswoman for the Estee Lauder Companies told the New York Times.She died from the disease in November of 2011, at 75. (credit:Getty)

Jessica Tandy(04 of10)

Famous for playing Blanche Dubois on Broadway and the title role in "Driving Miss Daisy," the actress passed away in 1994 at age 85 from ovarian cancer, according to her husband, actor Hume Cronyn.Flickr photo by Alan Light (credit:Flickr:Alan Light)

Diem Brown(05 of10)

While her acting credentials don't hold a candle to Broadway, a younger generation has a famous face of ovarian cancer all their own in reality star Diem Brown, of MTV's "The Real World" fame. She was diagnosed at age 24 with stage II ovarian cancer, and had one ovary, several lymph nodes and part of one of her fallopian tubes removed, Glamour reported."I had no idea why this was happening to me," she told Glamour of finding out she was sick. "I'm a healthy girl: I'm a vegetarian; I don't smoke; I barely drink. I kept thinking, I have so much to do; I'm not ready to die."While the survival rate is much lower for women whose ovarian cancer is diagnosed in advanced stages, Brown is currently healthy, having gone on to tackle additional TV challenges with her Real World and Road Rules colleagues. (credit:Getty)

Patrick Dempsey(06 of10)

Ovarian cancer comes back in about 70 percent of women diagnosed. That's what happened to Patrick Dempsey's mother, Amanda, in 1999. The actor helped his mother through chemotherapy then, as well as in 1996 when her disease was first caught, at stage IV. Survival rates aren't promising for most advanced cases, but, according to WebMD, Amanda "seems to have beaten those odds."Dempsey went on to found The Patrick Dempsey Center for Cancer Hope & Healing, dedicated to providing education, support and wellness services, according to its website. (credit:Getty)

Angelina Jolie(07 of10)

The actress's mother, Marcheline Bertrand, died in January of 2007 at age 56, after a 7-and-a-half-year battle with ovarian cancer."There are no words to express what an amazing woman and mother she was," Jolie and brother James Haven told People in a statement. "She was our best friend." (credit:Getty)

Kyle MacLachlan(08 of10)

The "Desperate Housewives" and "Sex and the City" actor's mother was diagnosed with ovarian cancer in the early 1980s, he told People, and died from it in 1986. "I was devastated by it and wanted to do something to help," he said. He teamed up with Callaway Golf Foundation and the Entertainment Industry Foundation in 2008 to film a PSA aimed not just at women, but men, too. "Every man has a mother, a wife, a daughter, a sister, friends," he said. "It might encourage husbands to ... take care of the women in our lives." (credit:Getty)

Kelly Ripa(09 of10)

The TV personality, who is featured on TV ads for Electrolux, has helped raise awareness of ovarian cancer. For each participant in various initiatives, Electrolux donates $1 to the Ovarian Cancer Research Foundation. (credit:Getty)

Janet Jackson(10 of10)

In the December 2009 issue of InStyle, the singer was photographed wearing the Cartier Love Charity bracelet. For each bracelet sold, Cartier donated $200 to the Ovarian Cancer National Alliance.Jackson was inspired to support the foundation on behalf of a friend who had been diagnosed with the disease at age 34. "She's been in remission for nine years, but just to think of the possibility of losing her was terrible," Jackson told the magazine.Bracelet sales raised over $100,000 for the cause, she added. (credit:Getty)

An oophorectomy can also reduce the risk of breast cancer for women, as the surgery reduces the body's supply of oestrogen.

However, the surgery does not come without risk factors. Side effects of the procedure can include premature menopause, potentially premature aging, greater risk for cardiovascular disease, and a chance of developing osteoporosis, according to wisegeek.com.

As a result, post-op patients may be given medications to help keep their bones from growing more fragile, as well as hormone replacement therapy.

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