Hollywood actress Actress Christina Applegate has disclosed that she had both her breasts, ovaries and fallopian tubes dismembered to decrease her chance of developing ovarian cancer.
Since the star, who has a six-year-old daughter, is BRCA positive, which means a person is more likely to develop ovarian and breast cancers, she decided to have another procedure to decrease her chances of dying from cancer.
Applegate, 45, was diagnosed with breast cancer nine years ago, and she had a double mastectomy to treat it. The same year she was diagnosed, her cousin was killed by ovarian cancer.
Applegate told NBC that taking control of the situation and getting the procedure provided her with a sense of relief.
“Two weeks ago, I had my ovaries and [fallopian] tubes removed,” Applegate said Wednesday on the “Today” show. “My cousin passed away from ovarian cancer in 2008. I could prevent that.”
“That’s how I’ve taken control of everything. It’s a relief,” she added. “That’s one other thing off the table. Now, let’s hope I don’t get hit by a bus.”
The fact that her daughter, Sadie, is likely BRCA positive weighs on Applegate, she told NBC. She said:
‘The chances that my daughter is BRCA positive are very high. I look at her and feed her the cleanest foods.’
She added: ‘I’m doing everything I can on my end knowing that in 20 years, she’ll have to start getting tested. Hopefully by then there will be advancements.’
She does this to reduce the amount of pesticides, fertilizers and other harmful chemicals she puts in her body, as this has been shown to reduce one’s chances of developing cancer.
Applegate also shared that she visits her oncologist every six months and that she eats only organic foods. ‘We grow our own vegetables. We’re a 100 percent organic house. My daughter is a vegetarian and practically vegan. That’s her choice,’ Applegate said.
The procedure that she had done is called a salpingo-oophorectomy, and it is designed to remove a woman’s ovaries and fallopian tubes at once.
