"Angelina Effect" Spurs Increased Breast Cancer Screenings In The UK

Chuck Bednar for redOrbit.com – Your Universe Online
Angelina Jolie’s decision to have a double mastectomy after being told she would likely develop breast cancer had a tremendous impact on testing for the disease in the UK, the authors of a new Breast Cancer Journal study reported on Friday.
According to BBC News online health editor Helen Briggs, referrals to breast cancer clinics more than doubled after Jolie announced last May that she had undergone the surgery after doctors informed her that she had an 87 percent chance of contracting breast cancer due to a high-risk gene.
University of Manchester professor Gareth Evans and his colleagues examined referrals to over 20 genetic centers and clinics in the UK following the press coverage of her admission, and found that those reports “encouraged women with genuine concerns about their family history to get advice,” said Briggs.
“The Angelina Jolie effect has been long-lasting and global, and appears to have increased referrals to centers appropriately,” Evans told BBC News, adding that her decision to undergo a double mastectomy likely had “a bigger impact than other celebrity announcements, possibly due to her image as a glamorous and strong woman.”
“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,” he added, telling the Huffington Post that high-profile cases such as Jolie’s “often mean that more women are inclined to… take the necessary steps to prevent themselves from developing the disease.”
Jolie was found to have the BRCA1 mutation, which is inherited from a parent and is responsible for at least 10 percent of all instances of breast cancer, the study authors explained. Women that have the BRCA1 gene mutation have between 45 percent and 90 percent risk of developing breast cancer in their lifetime, but those who have a strong family history of breast cancer and/or a living relative with the disease can be tested for the mutation.
Following Jolie’s announcement last year, new clinical guidance was published in the UK recommending that only women who faced an increased risk of developing breast cancer should be referred for genetic testing at a family history clinic or a regional genetics center. While news stories like this often have a short-term effect on health-related behaviors, Evans and his fellow investigators wanted to see if Jolie’s announcement had a lasting impact.
They reviewed data from 12 family history clinics and nine regional genetic centers throughout the UK, and found that there was a two and a half-fold increase in referrals by general practitioners during the two months immediately following Jolie’s announcement (versus June and July 2012).
That increase continued from August to October, with referrals doubling over that same period the previous year, and they also found no increase in inappropriate or unnecessary referrals during this time. Evans said he expected to find that the increase in visits would be the result of concerned but healthy women returning for early repeat screenings, the opposite was actually true – most of the women were actually late for their screenings.
“Defective versions of BRCA1 and its sister gene BRCA2 are together responsible for about a fifth of breast cancers. Women who inherit BRCA1 have a 60 percent to 90 percent risk of developing breast cancer. BRCA2 increases the risk by 45 percent to 85 percent. Both gene mutations also raise the risk of ovarian cancer,” The Guardian explained.