Angelina Jolie Brad Pitt Oscars Arrivals 2 - H 2014
AP ImagesAcademy Award presenter Angelina Jolie arrived at the Oscars red carpet in a silver embroidered Elie Saab haute couture dress that daringly showed her breasts — significant because she had reconstructive breast surgery after a prophylactic double mastectomy last year.
The 38-year-old actress, with partner Brad Pitt, quickly became a trending topic on Twitter and other social media.
PHOTOS: Oscars 2014 Red-Carpet Arrivals
Last year, the actress announced in The New York Times that she had been diagnosed with the BRCA gene. Doctors told the actress — whose mother, Marcheline Bertrand, died at age 56 after a 10-year battle with ovarian cancer — she had an 87 percent risk of breast cancer and a 50 percent risk of ovarian cancer.
“Once I knew that this was my reality, I decided to be proactive and to minimize the risk as much I could,” Jolie wrote in her Times piece last year. “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.”
On Feb. 2, 2013, she began three months of medical procedures, which were completed April 27 of that year. Among the procedures were a reconstruction of both breasts with implants. She wrote that it was a difficult decision to make.
“Cancer is still a word that strikes fear into people’s hearts, producing a deep sense of powerlessness. But today it is possible to find out through a blood test whether you are highly susceptible to breast and ovarian cancer, and then take action,” Jolie wrote.
During the 86th Academy Awards ceremony, the actress was remembered for the Jean Hersholt Humanitarian Award, which was presented to her at the 2013 Governors Awards.
For more from the Oscars red carpet, click here.
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