Angelina's choice: private decision, public impact.

The decision of the actress, Angelina Jolie (AJ), to undergo preventive risk-reducing bilateral mastectomy has elicited extreme responses, in support and against. We will discuss whether her decision was justified and if there are other options available to women. AJ, who is 38 years old, inherited the BRCA 1 gene. Because of the lack of randomised trials, there is controversy about the overall benefit that various risk-reduction strategies offer carriers of the BRCA 1, but some of the strategies offer a clear benefit. The decision to opt for mastectomy must be driven by the patient's choice, evidence on the balance of the risks and benefits, the quality of life after surgery and issues relating to body image.

Mutation analysis of the breast cancer gene BRCA1 among breast cancer Jordanian females.

To screen mutations of the tumor suppressor breast cancer susceptibility gene 1 [BRCA1] within 3 exons among Jordanian breast cancer females. A total of 135 Jordanian breast cancer females were genetically analyzed by denaturing gradient electrophoresis [DGGE] for mutation detection in 3 BRCA1 exons [2, 11 and 20] between 2000-2002 in Al-Basheer Hospital, Amman, Jordan. Of the studied patients 50 had a family history of breast cancer, 28 had a family history of cancer other than breast cancer, and 57 had no family history of any cancer. Five germline mutations were detected among breast cancer females with a family history of breast cancers [one in exon 2 and 4 mutations in exon 11]. Another germline mutation [within exon 11] was detected among breast cancer females with family history of cancer other than breast cancer, and no mutation was detected among breast cancer females with no family history of any cancer or among normal control females. Screening mutations within exon 2, exon 11 and exon 20 showed that most screened mutations were within BRCA1 exon 11 among breast cancer Jordanian families with a family history of breast cancer