A special analysis to identify the so-called “Angelina Jolie gene” will help women avoid unnecessary operations for them. This test will give doctors information to help predict the likelihood of developing a deadly disease.
“The Angelina Jolie gene” received this name in 2013 due to the openness of the actress in matters of her own health. She said that she had identified a mutation of the BRCA1 gene in her body, due to which her risk of breast cancer exceeds 80%. Angelina Jolie was tested for this gene because her mother died of cancer at 56 after a decade-long battle with the disease. In order to prevent the development of a tumor, Jolie underwent a double mastectomy, removal of the ovaries and fallopian tubes.
This story attracted huge attention, thousands of women subsequently went through similar tests that showed the presence of the “Angelina Jolie gene”. For years, no one wanted to be at risk of developing breast cancer with a probability of 80%, and many patients had preventive mastectomy. Now researchers, including the doctor who treated Angelina Jolie’s mother, have carried out a unique work on growing microscopic fallopian tubes from cells taken from the blood of women who have faced cancer. They found that these cells divide more actively, form abnormal growths and produce a cancer-related protein. The information will help accurately predict whether a woman with the “Angelina Jolie gene” will really get cancer, it can also be used to develop drugs that protect against this danger.
At the next stage, the scientist will grow fallopian tubes from women with this gene who have not yet developed cancer. This will answer the question of which of the owners of BRCA1 mutations manages to avoid the incidence of breast cancer. Researchers from the University of California at Los Angeles believe that in the near future testing for this gene will help to save a large number of women from unnecessary and very traumatic operations for their psyche.
