Supreme Court Justice vs Cancer
Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is a two-time cancer survivor who underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer this week.
After undergoing surgery this week for early-stage pancreatic cancer, Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg plans to return to the bench on February 23 when the high court hears arguments.
The new cancer was discovered during a routine, annual exam late last month at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Md. A CT scan revealed a tumor measuring about one centimeter across at the center of the pancreas.
The diminutive 75-year-old justice is already a cancer survivor. The only woman and most liberal voice on the nation’s highest court underwent colon cancer surgery in 1999, followed by chemo and radiation, and never missed a single day on the bench.
“Work, I found, was the best balm,” she said.
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly cancers. Nearly 38,000 cases a year are diagnosed and overall fewer than five percent of patients survive five years. But there is hope. When it is diagnosed at an early stage, survival rates go up. Between 20 percent to 24 percent of patients whose pancreatic cancer is caught early survive five years, according to the American Cancer Society.
For stories about people surviving and thriving with pancreatic cancer, click here.
For more information about pancreatic cancer, click here.
To learn more about the pancreatic cancer survivor and caregiver network, click here.
