Angelina Jolie's Double Mastectomy

They praised the Hollywood actress’s courage and said she would dramatically raise the profile of the genetic defect that means some women are much more likely to develop breast cancer.

Wendy Watson, who founded the UK’s National Hereditary Breast Cancer Helpline after she underwent a double mastectomy aged 37 in 1992, welcomed Jolie’s move.

Mrs Watson, from near Bakewell in Derbyshire, said: "It is excellent because it is the highest profile you can get for it.

"It raises the profile for other women to look to if they have a family history and would benefit from being screened more frequently, or having surgery or having a genetic test.

"She [Jolie] probably feels that undergoing the operation is common sense but it probably does take a certain amount of courage to face it."

Read more at http://www.telegraph.co.uk/women/10055775/British-campaigners-hail-Angelina-Jolies-courage-in-speaking-out-about-double-mastectomy.html