Hollywood star Angelina Jolie's decision to make public her double mastectomy increased the number of women in Britain seeking to have genetic breast cancer tests by more than 100 percent.

Jolie, 39, who has become a high-profile human rights campaigner, announced her surgery in May last year, saying she acted after testing positive for a mutation of the BRCA1 gene, which significantly increases the risk of breast cancer.

She said she was going public with news of her surgery as she hoped her story would inspire other women to fight the life-threatening disease.