Former EastEnders star Kara Tointon has revealed that she has undergone a double mastectomy, following a genetic test which confirmed she carries the deadly BRCA mutation.
While cancer is not usually inherited, some types—including breast, ovarian, pancreatic and prostate cancer—can be strongly influenced by genes.
The majority of hereditary breast cancers are due to mutations in two genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, which give you between 45-85 per cent chance of developing cancer in your lifetime.
Those with a faulty BRCA gene also have a 50 per cent chance of passing it on to their children, meaning that cancer can sometimes run in families.
So how do you know if you’re at risk?
The first sign you may be a BRCA carrier is having a close family member who developed one of three cancers under the age of 50, according to the National Cancer Institute.
This includes breast, ovarian, male breast and pancreatic cancer.
The relative affected must be a first or second degree relation—such as parent, sibling, grandparent, aunt, uncle, niece or nephew.
Kara Tointon revealed on Instagram that she has had a preventative double mastectomy to reduce her risk of developing the disease
Toiton is known for portraying Dawn Swan in EastEnders and is now using her voice to raise awareness for the fault genes that significantly increase a person’s risk of developing cancer
Similarly, if you have one of these relatives with prostate cancer before the age of 80, it may be a red flag.
About 62 per cent of those with harmful changes in BRCA genes will get prostate cancer by age 80, studies show.
Another risk factor is having jewish ancestry. According to the NHS, one in 40 Ashkenazi jews have a faulty BRCA gene, compared to around 1 in 250 individuals in the UK general population.
Sephardi jews are also at increased risk, with 1 in 140 having a mutated gene.
Ms Tointon, 41, is now urging other women to look out for the signs that they could carry the gene—putting them at a very high risk of cancer.
In a video posted to Instagram that has so far been viewed over 521,000 times, the mother-of-two said: ‘You may have heard of the BRCA genes 1 and 2 and as a carrier it means I am at a greater risk of both breast and ovarian cancer.’
‘There is a history of both cancers in my family on my mother’s side but for various reasons, including generational trauma, we hadn’t looked into [genetic testing] until that point.’
In 2018, the soap star was given the option to take a genetic test when her mother Carol, was undergoing treatment for ovarian cancer, which affects up to 58 per cent of women who inherit a faulty BRCA1 gene.
More than 60 per cent of women who inherit a mutated BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene will develop breast cancer during their lifetime.
‘It was put to us, we took the test and it was confirmed that my mum and I both carried the gene’, Ms Tointon explained.
Her mother died just a year later in 2019.
Now, after having her second son in 2021, Ms Tointon has revealed that she underwent two preventative surgeries, including a double a mastectomy and the removal of her fallopian tubes.
‘They believe that ovarian cancer begins in the fallopian tubes, so by removing them first, checking them out, you then remove the ovaries later, and closer to menopause’, the EastEnders star explained.
Hollywood star Angelina Jolie underwent the same procedure after she discovered she carried the BRCA1 gene, in 2013, raising greater awareness of the defect.
She was told at the time that her risk of developing breast cancer was 87 per cent.
Around one in 1,000 women in the UK are thought to have the BRCA1 variant, but most breast and ovarian cancers occur due to genetic damage that accumulates over time.
This can be caused by too much ultraviolet radiation from the sun, which can damage DNA in your skin cells causing skin cancer.
Angelina Jolie spearheaded a new awareness of gene testing as a guard against the possibility of breast cancer back in 2013, when she announced that she had undergone a double mastectomy
In some cases, patients with the faulty genes may be offered risk-reducing surgery, which removes tissue such as breasts or ovaries, that could become cancerous.
This is because while having one ‘normal’ copy of either gene is usually enough to protect cells from becoming cancerous, , this normal gene can change during a person’s lifetime—in a process known as somatic alteration—increasing the risk of cancer.
The NHS warns that while genetic testing can help people take steps to manage their risk of developing cancer—including lifestyle changes, regular screening and preventative treatments—a positive result can cause permanent anxiety.
This comes as new research has highlighted a drug that could help women with the so-called Angelina Jolie cancer gene to avoid surgery.
Currently, women who carry a BRCA gene mutation are a much higher risk of breast and ovarian cancer, with many opting for preventative treatments such as a mastectomy.
But new research by the University of Cambridge indicates that giving drugs usually administered in the late stages of breast cancer to healthy people carrying the mutated BRCA genes could prevent them from developing the disease.
