Kara Tointon gets double mastectomy after mum's tragic death from ovarian cancer

Kara Tointon has had a double mastectomy seven years after losing her mum, Carol, to ovarian cancer. The star, 41, underwent the major operation after finding out she carries the deadly BRCA1 gene.

Announcing that she has undergone a double mastectomy and had her fallopian tubes removed as a preventative measure, she bravely told her followers on : "You may have heard of the BRCA genes type 1 and 2 and as a carrier it means that I am at a greater risk of both breast and ovarian cancer. Back in 2018 when my mum was undergoing treatment for ovarian cancer, I was asked to take a genetics test. There is a history of both cancers in my family but for various reasons including generational trauma of which I'll talk more about another time, we hadn't looked into it until that point. But it was put to us, we took the test and it was confirmed that my mum and I both carried the gene."

As a mum-of-two, Kara explained that her family came first when she made her decision to have the preventative surgery. She continued: "I was pregnant with my first child at the time, knew I wanted more children if possible so over the next couple of years I was invited to various meetings by the to really become informed and to understand all my options.

"Last year having had my second son in 2021 and deciding that our family was complete, I underwent two preventative surgeries. The first a double mastectomy and the second a two part protector study, a trial. They believe that ovarian cancer begins in the fallopian tubes so by removing them first checking out you can remove the ovaries later."

According to the NHS, cancer is not usually inherited, but some types – mainly breast, ovarian, colorectal and prostate cancer – can be strongly influenced by genes and can run in families.

Its website states: "We all carry certain genes that are normally protective against cancer. These genes correct any DNA damage that naturally happens when cells divide.

"Inheriting faulty versions or "variants" of these genes significantly raises your risk of developing cancer, because the altered genes cannot repair the damaged cells, which can build up and form a tumour.

"BRCA1 and BRCA2 are examples of genes that raise your cancer risk if they become altered. Having a variant BRCA gene greatly increases a woman's chance of developing breast cancer and ovarian cancer."

Explaining that after having several medical investigations, she decided that surgery was the best option, Kara concluded: "We are finding out more and more about personal genetics and most people believe in surveillance, but after doing this for a couple of years, having MRIs, waiting for biopsy, we decided that this was the right decision for me and my family.

"I wasn't an easy decision, but one I am very glad that I made and I can now with hindsight talk about it properly."

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