Angelina Jolie's Mastectomy Didn't Improve Breast Cancer Awareness

Angelina Jolie's decision to tell the world about her preventive double mastectomy did not appear to improve understanding of breast cancer risk, according to a study, the New York Daily News reported.

Although the academy Award-winning actress may have raised some awareness in May when she described the procedure in an editorial in the New York Times, researchers from the University of Maryland School of Public Health found most people who heard of Jolie's story still are not clear on how gene mutations affect the risk of breast cancer.

In the op-ed, Jolie, 38, revealed that she had a preventive double mastectomy because she carried a rare genetic mutation of the BRCA1 gene and had a family history of cancer. The survey found three out of four Americans were aware that Jolie had the operation.

"Ms. Jolie's reach is exceptional," Dina Borzekowski, lead author of the study and a professor at the University of Maryland School Of Public Health, in a statement to Newsmax. "Our study confirms that the public became aware of her health narrative. What was lost was the rarity of Jolie's situation and how BRCA is associated with breast cancer."

The study, published in the journal Genetics in Medicine, surveyed more than 2,500 adults in the U.S. three weeks after Jolie's surprise announcement.

The New York Daily News reported that 75 percent of those surveyed had heard Jolie's story, but fewer than 10 percent could correctly answer questions regarding the BRCA gene and breast cancer risk.

"Ms. Jolie's reach is exceptional," said Dina Borzekowski, lead author of the study and a professor at the University of Maryland School of Public Health. "Our study confirms that the public became aware of her health narrative. What was lost was the rarity of Jolie's situation and how BRCA is associated with breast cancer."

According to Cancer.gov, mutations of the BRCA1 and BRCA2 genes can exponentially increase a woman's lifetime risk of breast cancer. It can also raise the risk of ovarian cancer. Jolie decided to write about her decision to undergo surgery so other women could benefit from her experience, Newsmax reported.