Angelina Jolie Cancer Surgery News: Actress Has Ovaries, Fallopian Tubes Removed to Prevent Cancer

Two years after undergoing a double mastectomy to cut her risk of coming down with breast cancer, Angelina Jolie underwent another preventive surgery: the removal of her ovaries and fallopian tubes last week.

Writing in the opinion section of the New York Times, Jolie explained that she volunteered for the operation, saying she is carrying a gene that actually gives her 50 percent risk of developing ovarian cancer.

"I had been planning this for some time. It is a less complex surgery than the mastectomy, but its effects are more severe. It puts a woman into forced menopause," Jolie wrote in a contributed article titled "Diary of a Surgery."

Jolie shared the result of a blood test she had taken two weeks earlier that prompted her to make the decision in order "to take control and tackle head-on any health issue."

The actress also revealed that her doctor found "a number of inflammatory markers that are elevated," which could be a sign of early cancer, adding that he advised her to see the surgeon immediately to check her ovaries.

"I went through what I imagine thousands of other women have felt. I told myself to stay calm, to be strong, and that I had no reason to think I wouldn't live to see my children grow up and to meet my grandchildren," she wrote.

"I called my husband in France, who was on a plane within hours. The beautiful thing about such moments in life is that there is so much clarity. You know what you live for and what matters. It is polarizing, and it is peaceful," she added.

Further tests revealed that Jolie was free of tumor. Nevertheless, she chose to have her ovaries removed after consulting the same doctor who tried to treat her mother. Her mother, grandmother and aunt all died from the same disease.

"My doctors indicated I should have preventive surgery about a decade before the earliest onset of cancer in my female relatives," wrote Jolie.