The news of Oscar-winning actress and director Angelina Jolie's double mastectomy highlights the struggle of not only many of Hollywood's elite women but also ofeveryday Americans who are affected by breast cancer.

Since 1997, the number of women who opt to undergo single mastectomies (where only one breast is removed) has risen from 6.7 percent to 25 percent in 2005, reports a 2011 study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology. This rise of women going under the knife cna likely be traced to the now-widespread use of tests that screen for the prescence of the BRCA genes, BRCA1 and BRCA2, that can significantly increase a woman's risk for breast cancer and ovarian cancer.

In addition, more American women are undergoing double mastectomies in the United States than other parts around the world reports a study conducted by the University of Michigan Comprehensive Cancer Center. In fact, even when women are told that it is only necessary to have one breast removed, the majority — 70 percent — choose to have both removed. The decision to do a double mastectomy is most common in women who have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer or those who tested positive for mutations in the BRCA genes.

It's not only women who are affected. One in 1000 men in the U.S. is diagnosed with the disease, reports the American Cancer Society (ACS). While women can sometimes treat breast cancer with a lumpectomy (where just the cancerous lump is removed), most men with breast cancer undergo a mastectomy; in men, a lumpectomy isn't as effective due to the relatively small size of a male breast and a female breast. A mastectomy is advised for men who have a malignant tumor directly below the nipple says The Susan G. Komen Breast Cancer Foundation.

Here are 11 Hollywood stars who have had a mastectomy or double mastectomy to stand up to cancer.