Woman chooses 'cancer' surgery

Woman chooses 'cancer' surgery

Dr Lee underwent a hysterectomy at the age of 31

A woman from Greater Manchester has had a hysterectomy and both her breasts removed - despite being given a clean bill of health.

Vicky Lee, 35, from Hale, underwent the surgery after doctors told her she had an 85% chance of developing breast or ovarian cancer.

Genetic testing revealed that Dr Lee, a university researcher, had a fault in the BRCA 1 gene, putting her at risk from two forms of the disease.

Dr Lee's mother died of ovarian cancer at the age of 47, and her father died of cancer at the age of 34.

She said "At the time of the testing I was 31 and it was the fact that ovarian cancer does have a much worse prognosis than breast cancer, and that my mum died of ovarian cancer that prompted me to go ahead with the hysterectomy."

Last September Dr Lee had surgery to remove both of her breasts.

'Close' family

Dr Lee, who works as a university researcher associate, is married with two daughters.

She said: "We are a very, very close family unit and if there was anything I could do to make sure that we can stay together, and not for my daughters to have to go through what I had to go through, then it was just a decision that was easy to make."

Dr Lee supports the Genesis Appeal to build a £10m breast cancer prevention centre in Manchester.

Manchester has the largest family history clinic in the UK at the Nightingale Centre in Withington where Mrs Lee underwent her testing.