Jackie Tohn is opening up about a recent health scare.
The Nobody Wants This star, 45, shared new details involving both her father and herself during a Friday, May 15 appearance on the Today show.
Tohn explained that in January 2025, her father was diagnosed with metastatic carcinomas, although doctors were unable to determine where the primary cancer had originated. He later underwent hereditary genetic testing, which revealed that he carried the BRCA1 gene mutation and had male breast cancer.
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In June, Tohn said she also underwent genetic testing, which showed that she carries the BRCA1 mutation and faces an 85% risk of developing breast cancer. She recalled mentioning her father’s diagnosis during a routine mammogram appointment, where doctors strongly encouraged her to get tested for the BRCA gene before leaving. Tohn said that was the moment she realized, “Oh, this is serious.”
“So what’s crazy is, when you get a diagnosis like this, you don’t know your options,” she said. “It’s like someone giving you a single nail and being, like, ‘Build the house. There’s a field,’ And so I said, ‘OK, let me put on my big girl pants, and I’m just doing this.’ And so then I had to find a whole medical team and I love who I landed on.”
By December, Jackie Tohn said she underwent a preventive double mastectomy along with breast reconstruction surgery.
After the procedure, an analysis of the removed tissue revealed multiple pre-cancerous cells in both breasts. Tohn recalled that when her doctor called with the results, she was “almost shrieking with joy” because the surgery had likely prevented the cancer from developing further.
Jackie Tohn said she feels thankful that doctors encouraged her to undergo genetic testing during her mammogram appointment. Reflecting on the experience, she said, “So many hundreds of things had to happen to line it up exactly for me to be able to have this information.”
Through a paid partnership with Myriad Genetics, Tohn is now encouraging others to consider genetic testing, particularly those with a family history that may increase their cancer risk. She explained that this includes individuals who have relatives diagnosed with rare cancers like her father, families with multiple cancer cases, or relatives who developed cancer at a young age.
According to the National Cancer Institute, approximately 1 in 400 people in the general population carry BRCA1 or BRCA2 gene mutations, while the rate among Ashkenazi Jewish individuals is estimated to be about 1 in 40.
Testing for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations is usually performed using a blood or saliva sample, according to Dana Zakalik, an oncologist at Corewell Health’s Nancy and James Grosfeld Cancer Genetics Center, who previously spoke with USA TODAY in 2024. Patients interested in testing can speak with their primary care physician for referrals to genetic counselors.
