Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had surgery Friday morning for two malignant nodules in her left lung, the 85-year-old justice’s third bout with cancer.
The pulmonary lobectomy was performed at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, court spokeswoman Kathleen Arberg said in a statement. She said Ginsburg was “resting comfortably” and will remain in the hospital for several days.
The two nodules in the lower lobe of her left lung were discovered during tests performed at George Washington University Hospital after Ginsburg fell and broke three ribs on Nov. 7, the court said.
“Post-surgery, there was no evidence of any remaining disease,” the statement read. “Scans performed before surgery indicated no evidence of disease elsewhere in the body. Currently, no further treatment is planned.”
In a pulmonary lobectomy, a lobe of the lung is completely removed. The right lung has three lobes, the left has two.
Ginsburg was treated for colorectal cancer in 1999, and pancreatic cancer was discovered at a very early stage 10 years later. She scheduled treatment for both during the court’s off days, and has not missed a day of oral argument.
It is unclear whether she will be on the bench when the court next hears a case, on Jan. 7.
John Kucharczuk, chief of thoracic surgery in the Abramson Cancer Center at the University of Pennsylvania, said the kind of surgery Ginsburg underwent is performed only when the doctors are convinced the cancer has not spread to other organs — in that case, the treatment would be a systemic therapy like chemotherapy.
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