Angelina Jolie Double Mastectomy Disclosure Greeted With Flood of Support

A wave of supportive reaction greeted the surprising confession by Angelina Jolie on Monday night that she had had a double mastectomy earlier this year to lower her chances of cancer.

In a striking opinion piece in the New York Times, Jolie wrote:

"My doctors estimated that I had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer, although the risk is different in the case of each woman.

Also read: Angelina Jolie Double Mastectomy Disclosure: What is the BRCA1 Mutation?

"Only a fraction of breast cancers result from an inherited gene mutation. Those with a defect in BRCA1 have a 65 percent risk of getting it, on average. Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much I could. I made a decision to have a preventive double mastectomy. I started with the breasts, as my risk of breast cancer is higher than my risk of ovarian cancer, and the surgery is more complex."

Also read: Angelina Jolie on Acting: 'I Don't Love It As Much. I Love Being a Mom'

Jolie said the procedure was painful, but only took a few days, and that her cancer risk plunged to 5 percent.

Figures from actress Kristen Bell to director Adam Shankman to producer Jane Rosenthal to writer-actress Nia Vardalos cheered Jolie's candor and bravery in tweets that filled the Twitterverse and social media networks.

Here is a small sampling:

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