Jolie's aunt dies from cancer

Angelina Jolie's aunt has died of breast cancer, less than two weeks after Jolie had a preventative double mastectomy to avoid the disease.

Debbie Martin was the younger sister of Jolie's mother, Marcheline Bertrand, whose own death from cancer in 2007 inspired the surgery that Jolie described in a May 14 New York Times article.

"I can tell my children they don't need to fear they will lose me to breast cancer," she wrote.

According to her husband Ron, Debbie Martin had the same defective BRCA1 gene that Jolie has, but didn't know it until after her cancer diagnosis in 2004.

He said had his wife known in advance of her genetic risk, "she would have done exactly what Angelina did".

"Angelina did the smartest thing on earth," he told People.com.

"It takes a lot of courage to have your breasts removed."

Jolie and her brother had visited his wife several times, he said.

"Angelina has been sending her wishes. She and my wife texted each other. It was difficult for my wife, during the last few months, to communicate."

The 37-year-old Jolie said in her New York Times article that her doctors estimated she had a 50% risk of getting ovarian cancer and an 87% risk of breast cancer.

She had her breasts removed first, reducing her likelihood to a mere 5%. She described the three-step surgical process in detail in the article "because I hope that other women can benefit from my experience".

The story, a surprise to most save those closest to Jolie, spurred a broad discussion about genetic testing and pre-emptive surgery.