Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Treated for Pancreatic Cancer

FRIDAY, Aug. 23, 2019 (HealthDay News) -- Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has just finished treatment for pancreatic cancer, the U.S. Supreme Court announced Friday.

After the tumor was first diagnosed in late July, Ginsburg was given a three-week course of focused radiation at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, the court said in a statement. A bile duct stent was placed and the justice tolerated treatment well, the statement added.

"The tumor was treated definitively and there is no evidence of disease elsewhere in the body," the statement said. "Justice Ginsburg will continue to have periodic blood tests and scans. No further treatment is needed at this time."

This is the fourth time Ginsburg has battled cancer. She had surgery in 1999 to treat colon cancer, and was treated for early-stage pancreatic cancer in 2009. Late last year, she had two cancerous nodules removed from her left lung.

A history of bouncing back from health setbacks hasn't eased the nerves of liberals who worry about how much longer Ginsburg can serve, as the balance of the Supreme Court shifts to the right with President Donald Trump's two recent appointees, Brett Kavanaugh and Neil Gorsuch.

Ginsburg was first appointed to the Supreme Court in 1993 by former President Bill Clinton. She is the oldest justice on the court.

Ginsburg has consistently fought for women's rights. In 1971, she helped launch the Women's Rights Project of the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). She served as the ACLU's general counsel from 1973 to 1980.

In recent years, Ginsburg gained social media popularity with her own nickname, "Notorious R.B.G." She was also the subject of a recent documentary, and a movie has been made about her life.

Ginsburg was born in Brooklyn, N.Y., in 1933, according to the U.S. Supreme Court website. She married Martin Ginsburg, and together they had a daughter and a son. She received her undergraduate degree from Cornell University, and attended Harvard and Columbia law schools.

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