Justice Ruth Bader Ginsberg has been cleared “definitively” of pancreatic cancer after spending three weeks undergoing treatment in New York City for the illness.
The Supreme Court issued a statement on Friday saying that the Justice responded well to radiation treatment. In early July, Ginsberg underwent a regular blood test that came back abnormal, and doctors found a “localized malignant tumor” on her pancreas after assessing a biopsy later in the month. In order to recover, the Justice backed out of a visit to Santa Fe, N.M., but the statement said that she has continued to stay active.
“The Justice tolerated treatment well. She cancelled her annual summer visit to Santa Fe, but has otherwise maintained an active schedule,” the statement said. “The tumor was treated definitively and there is no evidence of disease elsewhere in the body. Justice Ginsburg will continue to have periodic blood tests and scans. No further treatment is needed at this time.”
This isn’t the first time that the 86-year-old Ginsberg has battled cancer. She had surgery to treat colon cancer in 1999 and battled another bout of pancreatic cancer in 2009. Doctors also surgically removed two nodules from her lung just last December, and in another health scare, she fractured three ribs last November.