Breast health

Angelina Jolie's double mastectomy explained by doctor: Behind the brave decision

Angelina Jolie bravely dished on the details of her recent double mastectomy (and subsequent breast reconstruction) in an op-ed in the New York Times on Tuesday, a decision that she made after doctors pegged her risk at 87 percent for breast cancer and 50 percent for ovarian cancer.

Not only does the piece humanize the larger-than-life Hollywood personality. It also brings much-needed public attention to the topic of preventative breast health and genetic mutations that increase susceptibility.

"For any woman reading this, I hope it helps you to know you have options," Jolie writes. "I want to encourage every woman, especially if you have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer, to seek out the information and medical experts who can help you through this aspect of your life, and to make your own informed choices."

To find out which options are available to Houston women, CultureMap reached out to Dr. Tejal Patel, a breast medical oncologist and director of the high risk clinic at Methodist Cancer Center.

"The best thing you can do is be armed with information. What every woman should know about is her risk."

The average woman, Patel explains, has a one in eight risk of developing breast cancer by the time they reach 85 years of age. Those odds increase with mutated genes, such as BRCA1 (which Jolie carries) or BRCA2, as well as other factors like dense breast tissue, familial risk, multiple breast biopsies, amount of estrogen exposure and postmenopausal obesity.

"The best thing you can do is be armed with information," Patel says. "What every woman should know about is her risk."

Patel encourages women to talk with other females in their families about cancer occurrence and look at risk statistics, then take that information to doctors to determine a plan of action.

While there are preventative options besides the one that Jolie chose (anti-estrogen pills, frequent screenings, mammograms and breast MRIs, for example), Patel acknowledges that double mastectomies are an increasingly common decision to prevent breast cancer.

Access to expensive tests and procedures is a major factor for many women, but Patel notes that most insurance companies cover the costs and others will consider coverage with a letter of medical necessity from a physician.

As the average age for diagnosis drops ever-younger, Patel encourages women under 35 to perform self-breast examinations monthly, to receive a clinical examination once a year and to speak with doctors to determine risk — and sooner rather than later.

unspecified

Thanks, Queen Bey

Pop icon Beyoncé donates $100,000 to University of Houston Law School

Photo by Erza Shaw Getty Images

undefined

Pop megastar Beyoncé Knowles-Carter has donated $100,000 to the University of Houston Law Center Criminal Justice Clinic through her BeyGOOD Foundation. The gift will allow the clinic to hire fill-time faculty to head it, benefiting the students who study there.

“I am delighted that the BeyGOOD Foundation has made this very generous gift to the UH Law Center,” said Leonard Baynes, dean of the UH Law Center. “Not only will this funding help establish a full-time criminal justice clinic that provides pro bono legal services in our community, but it will also supercharge our already excellent criminal law and justice programming.”

The clinic is one of nine at UHLC. It helps students learn to navigate the criminal justice system, especially on behalf of clients that are underserved by skilled attorneys. People of color are affected disproportionately by a lack of good, ethical representation.

Beyoncé, the most decorated artist in Grammy history and easily the biggest musical star native to Houston, has a long history of advocating for criminal justice reform. She was a staunch supporter of the police reform following the deaths of Alton Sterling and Philando Castile, asking law enforcement to “stop killing us” in a web post. In 2020, she penned an open letter to the Kentucky attorney general asking for justice in the death of Breonna Taylor.

Through her BeyGOOD Foundation, established in 2013, Beyoncé has focused mostly on expanding the prospects of Black-owned business and offering education opportunities to students. Forwarding the cause of legal representation in Texas while also helping out marginalized communities compliments her other philanthropic work.

“At UH Law, we envision a legal profession where ‘everyone has the opportunity to prosper,’ as BeyGOOD envisions, and we will achieve this vision by providing access to strong and effective legal representation in criminal proceedings,” Baynes said. “And together, through this gift, the BeyGOOD Foundation and UHLC will shepherd the next generation of criminal justice attorneys in the city of Houston, the state of Texas and the nation.”