Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 85, had part of her left lung removed Friday after being diagnosed with lung cancer. Ginsburg was treated at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, according to a press release issued by the press office for the Supreme Court of the United States. According to the announcement issued by the Supreme Court, Ginsburg’s cancer was confined to one part of her left lung. There is no evidence the disease has spread elsewhere in her body. The diagnosis follows an accident Ginsburg sustained on November 7, when she fell in her office, fracturing three ribs. According to reports, the cancer was discovered when she underwent imaging tests on her rib injury. The tests showed two pulmonary nodules — growths — in the lower-left lobe. A pathology evaluation performed after the nodules were removed confirmed lung cancer. Scans performed before surgery indicated no evidence of disease elsewhere in the body. Since the cancer was confined to only one part of the lung and there is no evidence it has spread, it is considered early-stage and will not require further treatment, according to Ginsburg’s thoracic surgeon, Valerie W. Rusch, MD. Justice Ginsburg is resting comfortably and is expected to remain in the hospital for a few days, according to the Supreme Court statement. “Even at her advanced age, most patients who have this surgery recovery fully,” said Roy S. Herbst, MD, PhD, chief of medical oncology and director of the thoracic oncology research program at Yale Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Yale School of Medicine. “There is usually just a minor effect on lung function if she is otherwise doing well.”
Early Diagnosis Is Key to Survival
Typically, lung cancer is a challenging disease to treat because it is often caught late, after the cancer has spread. The disease is the leading cause of cancer death in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. However, the five-year survival rates for stage 1 non-small-cell lung cancer (the most common type of lung cancer) range from 68 to 92 percent, according to the American Cancer Society. Lung cancer survival rates fall dramatically for later-stage disease. The disease is often associated with smoking but can be caused by other factors, such as radiation exposure, family history of the disease, and contact with some toxic substances, such as asbestos. The information released by the court suggests that Ginsburg may have a good prognosis, according to a blog posted Friday afternoon by J. Leonard Lichtenfeld, MD, deputy chief medical officer for the national office of the American Cancer Society. However, there is much about her case that remains unknown at this time, he said. “We must always be cautious in situations like this and avoid statements that overstate outcomes from a disease that can behave unpredictably,” Dr. Lichtenfeld wrote. “Factors such as the location of the tumor, the precise type and characteristics of the tumor, and the size of the tumor all factor into an assessment of outcome. Simply stated, we do not have that information.” This is the third time Ginsburg has battled cancer. She was treated for colorectal cancer in 1999 and for early-stage pancreatic cancer in 2009. She may be fortunate this bout of cancer was detected when it was, Dr. Herbst said. “Very often these things are found by chance,” he said. “I see this all the time — people who fall and have an accident and they have an X-ray and there is a small nodule in the lung. This may have been found at an earlier stage than it might otherwise have been.” Moreover, numerous advances have been seen in cancer treatment in recent years, particularly lung cancer treatment. “It’s never been a more-promising time in the treatment of cancer and lung cancer, with more therapies and more options,” Herbst said.
