Welch publishes CNN op-ed on Angelina Jolie's mastectomy
Geisel School of Medicine professor H. Gilbert Welch published an op-ed in CNN last Saturday weighing in on Angelina Jolie’s recent preventive double mastectomy. Jolie published an op-ed in The New York Times last week, revealing that she opted for the surgery after discovering that she carried the BRCA1 gene and has an estimated 87 percent risk of developing breast cancer.
Welch’s piece examined the notion that Jolie’s operation could inspire health-conscious American women to seek similar procedures to prevent breast cancer. Welch argued that Jolie’s surgery is irrelevant to 99 percent of American women, as the rare BRCA1 mutation put her at abnormally high risk for developing the disease. Less than one percent of American women carry this gene, Welch said.
Women with the BRCA1 mutation or other risk factors for breast cancer could stand to gain from a procedure like Jolie’s. Women at average risk, however, are less likely to benefit from a preventive double mastectomy, and the risks of surgery could outweigh their risks of getting cancer, Welch wrote.
“The vast majority of women don't have the BRCA1 mutation. They are at average risk for breast cancer,” Welch wrote. “They are not Angelina Jolie. They should not have a preventive mastectomy.”
Welch is a medicine professor at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice. He co-authored “Overdiagnosed: Making People Sick in the Pursuit of Health,” in which he argues against using certain medical procedures for prevention alone.