Angelina Jolie's decision to make public her double mastectomy more
than doubled the number of women in Britain seeking to have genetic
breast cancer tests, according to a study released on Friday.
Jolie, 39, announced her surgery
in May last year, saying she acted after testing positive for a
mutation of the BRCA1 gene that significantly increases the risk of
breast cancer.
She said she was going public with news of her
surgery as she hoped her story would inspire other women to fight the
life-threatening disease.
Researchers studied 21 clinics and
regional genetic centers and found there were 4,847 referrals for
testing in June and July last year compared to 1,981 in the same period
of 2012.
The study of the so-called "Angelina effect", published
in the journal Breast Cancer Research, credited Jolie's glamorous
appearance and relationship with Hollywood actor Brad Pitt for helping
to lessen women's fears about surgery.
Video: After
actress Angelina Jolie made headlines Tuesday with the news that she
underwent a preventative double mastectomy, her fiancé, Brad Pitt, and
her doctors are speaking out about the decision, saying they “applaud”
her “bold choices.” TODAY’s Hoda Kotb reports.
"Angelina
Jolie ... is likely to have had a bigger impact than other celebrity
announcements, possibly due to her image as glamorous and strong
woman," researcher Gareth Evans of the charity Genesis Breast Cancer
Prevention said in a statement.
"This may have lessened
patients' fears about a loss of sexual identity post-preventative
surgery and encouraged those who had not previously engaged with health
services to consider genetic testing."
Breast cancer is the
most common cancer in women worldwide. The World Health Organization
estimated that more than 521,000 women died of breast cancer in 2012.
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