The role of heuristics and biases in cancer-related decisions

Prophylactic mastectomy to reduce the risk of developing breast cancer in the presence of a BRCA mutation has been available for many years. Yet, immediately after Angelina Jolie’s announcement of her decision to undergo a bilateral prophylactic mastectomy, the level of women’s interest in genetic testing and/or preventive surgical intervention soared incredibly as witnessed by the increased number of information requests followed the announcement. FORCE (http://facingourrisk.wordpress.com/), a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the lives of those affected by hereditary breast and ovarian cancer, reported that calls to their hotline quadrupled within 36 hours. A sudden increased interest in genetic information related to breast cancer was also noted by Wikipedia which announced that the page describing the gene, BRCA 1, was viewed nearly 30,000 times the day of Angelina’s announcement. Moreover, many physicians report that cancer genetic clinics have seen an uptake in women seeking BRCA 1/2 genetic testing following Ms. Jolie’s disclosure.