Angelina Jolie's Mastectomies Tied to Rise in Genetic Testing

Angelina Jolie's Mastectomies Tied to Rise in Genetic Testing

By Steven Reinberg
HealthDay Reporter

THURSDAY, Dec. 15, 2016 (HealthDay Information) -- After actress Angelina Jolie had each breasts eliminated as a result of she confronted a heightened threat for breast most cancers, there was a spike within the variety of girls who had been examined for the genes that elevate that threat. However, there was no corresponding enhance in mastectomy charges, researchers report.

Jolie's 2013 announcement about her resolution was delivered in an editorial in The New York Instances.

"That editorial was extensively shared on social media, and we noticed a leap in BRCA gene testing the day after the editorial," mentioned lead researcher Sunita Desai. She is a fellow within the division of well being care coverage at Harvard Medical College in Boston.

"Within the two weeks after the editorial, we discovered a 64 % leap in gene testing, in contrast with gene testing within the two weeks earlier than the editorial, and a $13.5 million enhance in spending on BRCA testing on this inhabitants," she mentioned. "The elevated charges continued all year long."

Though this examine did not show that Jolie's resolution brought about extra girls to get examined, her editorial seemingly had that impact, Desai mentioned.

"Considerate and well-delivered movie star endorsements might be efficient in elevating consciousness and use of preventive care," she defined.

To measure the impact of the editorial, Desai and her colleague Dr. Anupam Jena, an affiliate professor of well being care coverage at Harvard, collected information on greater than 9 million U.S. girls aged 18 to 64. The researchers then analyzed charges of BRCA testing and mastectomies earlier than and after Jolie's editorial appeared in Could 2013.

Testing charges rose from zero.71 per 100,000 girls within the 15 enterprise days earlier than the editorial ran, to 1.13 per 100,000 girls within the 15 enterprise days after the editorial ran. This was an absolute every day enhance of zero.45 checks per 100,000 girls, Desai mentioned.

The yr earlier than, BRCA check charges remained mainly unchanged throughout the identical time interval, the examine authors famous.

Nonetheless, the leap in BRCA check charges was not accompanied by a rise in mastectomy charges, Desai famous.

As a substitute, month-to-month mastectomy charges amongst girls who had BRCA testing dropped from a mean of 10 % throughout January-April 2013 to 7 % throughout Could-December 2013. This implies that the elevated BRCA testing that adopted the editorial didn't discover gene mutations requiring preventive mastectomy, Desai mentioned.

So, whereas celebrities will help elevate consciousness about particular well being points, they may not successfully goal these most in danger, she urged.

"BRCA testing is handiest amongst girls with a household historical past of breast most cancers or different threat components, so it doesn't make sense for each lady to get examined, and it could possibly result in over-utilization," Desai famous.

"It is vital for sufferers to do their very own analysis and to speak to their physician to determine what's finest for them," she added.

One professional agreed that simply because a celeb advocates one thing would not make it proper for everybody. Furthermore, customers want to hunt out the perfect data they'll, significantly about issues that have an effect on their well being.

"We stay in an period when reality is far more within the fingers of the patron," mentioned Dr. Len Lichtenfeld, deputy chief medical officer for the American Most cancers Society.

"Celebrities have a duty to be truthful about what they know and what they do not know, and never make grand suggestions based mostly on their very own particular person expertise, as a result of that is not the way in which to speak about inhabitants well being," he mentioned.

Individuals have to get the perfect recommendation they'll discover from these most certified to give it, Lichtenfeld mentioned.

"Customers should bear in mind that not every little thing they hear or learn is true," he mentioned.

Copyright © 2016 HealthDay. All rights reserved.

SOURCES: Sunita Desai, Ph.D., fellow, division of well being care coverage, Harvard Medical College, Boston; Leonard Lichtenfeld, M.D., M.A.C.P., deputy chief medical officer, American Most cancers Society; Dec. 14, 2016, BMJ, on-line