The Impact of Angelina Jolie's Story on Genetic Referrals

Clinical Pearls

Jacques Raphael, MD, clinical fellow, Sunnybrook Odette Cancer Centre, discusses a study looking at the impact of Angelina Jolie’s decision and announcement to undergo a preventive double mastectomy.

• Researchers set out to determine the effect of the extensive media coverage of Angelina Jolie’s decision to undergo a preventive double mastectomy on the activity in a genetic clinic.
• Referrals increased from 487 to 916. Quality of referrals remained the same.
• The proportion of BRCA1/2 mutation carriers also remained the same.