Angelina Jolie has ovaries removed following 'early signs of cancer'

The 39-year-old star – who underwent a preventative double mastectomy two years ago – had the operation to remove her ovaries and fallopian tubes in recent days. 

Angelina's husband Brad Pitt flew home from France to by her side. 

The star carries a mutation in the BRCA1 gene that gave her an 87 per cent risk of breast cancer and a 50 per cent risk of ovarian cancer. Her mother, grandmother and aunt all died from cancer.

In an article for the New York Times entitled "Diary of a Surgery", Angelina wrote about the tough decision to undergo the procedure.

She said that despite "planning [the surgery] for some time" her diagnosis of "early signs of cancer" came as a shock.

Angelina wrote: "I told myself to stay calm, to be strong, and that I had no reason to think I wouldn't live to see my children grow up and to meet my grandchildren.

"I called my husband in France, who was on a plane within hours. The beautiful thing about such moments in life is that there is so much clarity. You know what you live for and what matters. It is polarising, and it is peaceful.

"That same day I went to see the surgeon, who had treated my mother. I last saw her the day my mother passed away, and she teared up when she saw me: 'You look just like her.' I broke down."

When Angelina's scan came back it was clear, but she chose not to wait any longer to have her ovaries removed.

Angelina said she wanted to share her experience to to make good on a promise to follow up with information for other women at risk of cancer, having previously written about her double mastectomy.

The actress gave details of the procedure she underwent, which was called a laparoscopic bilateral salpingo-oophorectomy.

She wrote: "I am now in menopause. I will not be able to have any more children, and I expect some physical changes.

"But I feel at ease with whatever will come, not because I am strong but because this is a part of life. It is nothing to be feared. I know my children will never have to say, 'Mom died of ovarian cancer'."

Angelina has six children with Brad, three of them adopted. 

Her mother, Marcheline Bertrand, died in 2007 aged 56 following a decade-long battle with cancer. 

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COMMENT by Dr Simon Newman, Head of Research at Target Overian Cancer

ANGELINA Jolie’s bold decision to have her ovaries and fallopian tubes removed is only matched by her bold decision to talk about it so publicly.

Angelina has already talked openly about having a BRCA gene mutation, the death of her mother, grandmother and aunt from ovarian cancer, and her double mastectomy two years ago.

For any women, being told that you have a BRCA gene mutation is life-changing information. The gene mutation increases a woman’s chances of developing ovarian cancer to around 50 per cent. With low survival rates for ovarian cancer, it is a weighty pressure.

Not only is a woman’s own health at risk, so is the health of many of her female relatives.

She might receive the information before having had the chance to have children herself and therefore face an agonising decision as to whether to wait, or take preventative action now.

If she has already had children, she faces the guilt of having possibly passed a life-threatening gene