( CNN ) Angelina Jolie 's decision to remove her breasts and ovaries to prevent cancer ( as she detailed in today 's New York Times op-ed ) might sound extreme , but breast cancer experts say she was spot on . `` I understand what Angelina Jolie did , and I would have done it , too , '' said Dr. Otis Brawley , the chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society . Brawley said if he were Jolie 's doctor he would have advised her to do what she did because her mother , aunt , and grandmother all had ovarian cancer , and her mother had breast cancer as well . Plus , Jolie has a gene that gives her about an 87 % chance of getting breast cancer sometime in her life . `` She has one of the particularly bad breast cancer genes , '' Brawley said . The decision is made even easier by advances in breast reconstruction and by hormone treatments that help ease women into menopause , which is induced by removing the ovaries . The ovary surgery was a no-brainer , doctors say , and some wondered why she did n't do it sooner . In her op-ed , Jolie explained that every year she 's had a blood test called CA-125 , to monitor for ovarian cancer . But that test often has false positives and false negatives , said Dr. Dr. Funmi Olopade , director of the Center for Clinical Cancer Genetics at the University of Chicago . `` You really ca n't rely on it , '' she said . Instead of screening , experts in cancer genetics recommend that women at a very high risk for ovarian cancer , like Jolie , remove their ovaries as soon as they 're done having children . `` I ca n't emphasize enough how important this is , '' Olopade said . Olopade was glad to hear Tuesday morning that Jolie had decided to move forward . `` What she 's done is really important to save her life , because there 's no way to detect ovarian cancer , '' she said . Jolie 's decision about her breasts ( also documented in an op-ed ) , however , is not so clear cut , Olopade explained , because it would have been perfectly acceptable if Jolie had decided to keep her breasts and to get regular MRIs instead . `` We have lots of survivors who went that route , and they 've done well , '' she said . Some made the decision to keep their breasts because they could n't afford a good plastic surgeon for breast reconstruction , she added . `` Celebrities have access to that kind of surgery , but that 's not the life everyone lives , '' Olopade said . Brawley added that Jolie 's decision likely would n't be right for someone with a different kind of breast cancer gene mutation . For example , some women have a mutation that gives them a 15 % chance of getting breast cancer in their lifetime . That 's not much higher than the 12 % chance a woman has of getting breast cancer even if she has no mutation at all . He says he worries that some of these women with just a slightly increased risk will hear about Jolie 's decision and want to remove their breasts , too . `` To get surgery in their situation is really overkill , '' he said . `` Most of these women would be just fine if they took tamoxifen for five years and got regular mammograms . '' But all in all , doctors say they 're glad Jolie has been so public with her decision making . `` These very publicly shared medical sagas from respected figures play a very powerful role in creating these teachable moments , '' said Dr. Ken Offit , chief of clinical genetics at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center . CNN 's John Bonifield also contributed .
Jolie has a gene that gives her an 87 % chance of getting breast cancer . Experts in cancer genetics recommend that women in a similar situation remove their ovaries as soon as they 're done having children .