Olivia Munn recommends breast cancer risk calculator after diagnosis
When Olivia Munn revealed this week that she was diagnosed with breast cancer and had a double mastectomy, she urged people to ask their doctors to figure out their score on a breast cancer risk calculator.
Munn said her score prompted further tests and the discovery of an aggressive form of the disease.
“I’m lucky. We caught it with enough time that I had options,” the 43-year-old actor posted on Instagram. “I want the same for any woman who might have to face this one day.”
A look at the calculator, the Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool:
What is the Breast Cancer Risk Assessment Tool?
It’s a questionnaire on the National Cancer Institute’s website that is designed for health care providers to use with patients. The tool received a “dramatic increase in visits” since Munn’s post, according to an NCI spokesperson.
First developed in 1989, it was originally based on data from only white women. Updates have made it more accurate for Black, Hispanic and Asian and Pacific Islander women.