Kara Tointon: Former EastEnders actress reveals she has undergone double mastectomy after cancer gene test

The ex-soap star, 41, took to social media where she explained her decision after being told that she has the BRCA gene, which puts carriers at a very high risk of developing cancer. Kara posted a video to Instagram explaining her decision, working alongside gynaecological cancer charity Eve Appeal.

She said: “You may have heard of the BRCA genes 1 and 2 and as a carrier it means 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 on my mother’s side, 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.”

Kara’s mum Carol died in March 2019. The actress, who is best known for her role of Dawn Swann in the BBC soap, shares two children with partner Marius Jensen.

She added: “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 NHS, 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 them out, you then remove the ovaries later, and closer to menopause.

“We are finding out more and more about personal genetics and many people find that regular surveillance suits them very well, but for me, having done that for a few years, MRIs finding things, biopsies, waiting for result, I decided that this was the right decision for me and my family.

“It wasn’t an easy decision, but one I’m very glad and lucky I made, and I can now, with hindsight, talk about it properly.”

It comes after Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie raised awareness of the BRCA gene after she underwent a double mastectomy in 2013. She said at the time: “I choose not to keep my story private because there are many women who do not know that they might be living under the shadow of cancer. It is my hope that they, too, will be able to get gene tested, and that if they have a high risk they, too, will know that they have strong options.”