“Angelina effect” led to more appropriate breast cancer referrals, research shows

When the US actress Angelina Jolie announced that she had tested positive for the breast cancer gene BRCA1 and had undergone a double mastectomy, referrals for genetic counselling and testing in the United Kingdom more than doubled, remaining higher than usual for at least six months.

And these were not simply “worried well” women, a team from various cancer centres around the UK has concluded.1 The authors found no …