ArticleBreast cancer research : BCR2014
The Angelina Jolie effect: how high celebrity profile can have a major impact on provision of cancer related services.
Article in Breast cancer research : BCR, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 135 papers, 3 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
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Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
135 citing papers in PubMed, 3 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 316 citations in OpenAlex.
- Social Media Listening to Understand the Lived Experience of Individuals in Europe With Metastatic Breast Cancer: A Systematic Search and Content Analysis Study.Frontiers in oncology · 2022Pooled it
- Risks and Benefits of Web-Based Patient Narratives: Systematic Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2020Pooled it
- "Clicks, likes, shares and comments" a systematic review of breast cancer screening discourse in social media.PloS one · 2020Pooled it
- Effect of a Website That Presents Patients' Experiences on Self-Efficacy and Patient Competence of Colorectal Cancer Patients: Web-Based Randomized Controlled Trial.Journal of medical Internet research · 2017Trial
- Celebrity Opinion Influences Public Acceptance of Human Evolution.Evolutionary psychology : an international journal of evolutionary approaches to psychology and behaviorTrial
- The Impacts of Social Marketing Campaigns on Breast Cancer Awareness and Screening: Scoping Review.JMIR cancer · 2026Article
- The Céline Dion Effect: high-profile public announcements and the epidemiology of stiff-person syndrome.Journal of neurology · 2026Article
- Simultaneous Risk-Reducing Mastectomy and Salpingo-Oophorectomy in Patients withJournal of personalized medicine · 2026Article
- Bilateral risk reducing mastectomy uptake trends in healthy BRCA1/2 mutation carriers of an European City, the brachoice study.World journal of surgical oncology · 2026Article
- Exploring the hereditary genetic mutational landscape of breast and ovarian cancer in Estonia.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Genetic profiling of healthy family members of breast and ovarian cancer patients in Estonia.Frontiers in genetics · 2026Article
- Willingness of Chinese Breast Cancer Patients for Their Children to UndergoInternational journal of women's health · 2026Article
- Factors influencing uptake of BRCA1/2 testing and contralateral prophylactic mastectomy among Chinese breast cancer patients.Medicine · 2025Observational
- Effects of Public Disclosure of a Japanese Celebrity's Oral Cancer: Trends in Oral Cancer Diagnoses.Oral diseases · 2025Article
- Breast Cancer Screening Participation and Internet Search Activity in a Japanese Population: Decade-Long Time-Series Study.JMIR cancer · 2025Article
- US Public Interest in Merkel Cell Carcinoma Following Jimmy Buffett's Death and Implications for Continued Health Advocacy: Infodemiology Study of Google Trends.JMIR dermatology · 2024Article
- "The Bird effect"-positive impact of celebrity health disclosure on public awareness and soaring interest in motor neurone disease.Irish journal of medical science · 2024Article
- Do you 'like' problems? The linkage between college students' interactions with alcohol-related content on social media and their alcohol-related problems.Drug and alcohol review · 2024Article
- Contralateral prophylactic mastectomy for unilateral breast cancer in Chinese female population: a retrospective cohort study.Gland surgery · 2023Article
- Previvorship Posting: Why Breast Cancer Previvors Share Their Stories on Social Media.Health communication · 2023Article
75 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
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Authors and funding
16 authors at 10 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
introductionIt is frequent for news items to lead to a short lived temporary increase in interest in a particular health related service, however it is rare for this to have a long lasting effect. In 2013, in the UK in particular, there has been unprecedented publicity in hereditary breast cancer, with Angelina Jolie's decision to have genetic testing for the BRCA1 gene and subsequently undergo risk reducing mastectomy (RRM), and a pre-release of the NICE guidelines on familial breast cancer in January and their final release on 26th June. The release of NICE guidelines created a lot of publicity over the potential for use of chemoprevention using tamoxifen or raloxifene. However, the longest lasting news story was the release of details of film actress Angelina Jolie's genetic test and surgery.
methodsTo assess the potential effects of the 'Angelina Jolie' effect, referral data specific to breast cancer family history was obtained from around the UK for the years 2012 and 2013. A consortium of over 30 breast cancer family history clinics that have contributed to two research studies on early breast surveillance were asked to participate as well as 10 genetics centres. Monthly referrals to each service were collated and increases from 2012 to 2013 assessed.
resultsData from 12 family history clinics and 9 regional genetics services showed a rise in referrals from May 2013 onwards. Referrals were nearly 2.5 fold in June and July 2013 from 1,981 (2012) to 4,847 (2013) and remained at around two-fold to October 2013. Demand for BRCA1/2 testing almost doubled and there were also many more enquiries for risk reducing mastectomy. Internal review shows that there was no increase in inappropriate referrals.
conclusionsThe Angelina Jolie effect has been long lasting and global, and appears to have increased referrals to centres appropriately.
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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.