American actress Angelina Jolie, has become an example of courage and the new face of the fight against cancer, after her confession through an article published in The New York Times newspaper, who underwent a double mastectomy and now she plans to also remove her ovaries.
Many famous actresses have gone through this experience, who, before Jolie, on several occasions made public their condition, to create social awareness.
Surgical intervention of the Oscar-winner, has been one of the most discussed issues in social networks that did not exist when Shirley Temple, of 85 years old, announced her operation. Temple, is considered the first star in revealing her breast cancer. The protagonist of The Little Princess (1939) had 44 years old when she removed one of her breasts.
Betty Ford, the former first lady of the United States, left the media visit her at the hospital and photographed her in a robe when her mastectomy was performed in 1974. Thirteen years later, Nancy Reagan was also subjected to this intervention.
However, unlike Jolie, Reagan was criticized for choosing a severe surgery instead of an aggressive treatment, to remove the tumor detected her in the chest.
More recently, the actress Christina Applegate (Samantha Who?, Hall Pass) underwent a double mastectomy in 2008, when the doctors detected an early stage tumor in one of her breast.
Who have also struggled to survive a diagnosis of mammary tumor include artists like Olivia Newton John, Edie Falco, Kylie Minogue, Cynthia Nixon, or famous athletes, as the tennis player Martina Navratilova.
