Ms Ginsburg had recently told her former law clerks and others that she envisioned serving on the court into her 80s, although those comments were made before the latest diagnosis. -- PHOTO: REUTERS
WASHINGTON - US SUPREME Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had surgery on Thursday after being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, the court said.
Pancreatic cancer
Pancreatic cancer is one of the most deadly cancers: Nearly 38,000 cases a year are diagnosed and overall, fewer than 5 per cent of patients survive five years.
The reason: Fewer than one in 10 cases are diagnosed at an early stage - like Ms Ginsburg's appears to be - before the cancer has begun spreading through the abdomen and beyond. That's because early pancreatic cancer produces few symptoms other than vague indigestion.
Ms Ginsburg is a native of New York, a lover of opera and perhaps personally closest on the court to her ideological opposite, Justice Antonin Scalia. The justices have vacationed together - a photo in her office shows the two atop an elephant - and routinely mark New Year's Eve with an elaborate meal prepared by their spouses.
Ms Ginsburg was a federal appeals court judge in Washington before President Bill Clinton appointed her to the court to replace the retiring Justice Byron White. She served as a lawyer for the American Civil Liberties Union before that and argued six cases before the high court.
Pancreatic cancer is often deadly, although the court said doctors apparently found Ms Ginsburg's cancer at an early stage.
Ms Ginsburg, 75, had the surgery at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Centre in New York. She will remain in the hospital for seven to 10 days, said her surgeon, Dr Murray Brennan, according to a release issued by the court. The hospital had no comment on Ginsburg.
The only woman on the nine-person court, Ms Ginsburg has been a justice since 1993. She is a liberal-leaning justice who has been vocal in recent years about the court's more conservative stance.
Apopointments made by former President George W. Bush and other Republican presidents turned the court in the conservative direction. But with five justices 70 or older - Ms Ginsberg is the second oldest justice - President Barack Obama, a Democrat, could reshape the court, especially if he wins a second term in 2012. The justices serve lifetime appointments.
If Ms Ginsburg or another justice leaves the court, it falls to Mr Obama to pick a successor. Anyone he might choose to replace her probably would be as liberal as she, if not more so, keeping in place the 5-4 conservative tilt of the court.
Mr Obama expressed hope for her speedy recovery, White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said on Thursday, and offered his thoughts and prayers.
In 1999, Ms Ginsburg had surgery for colon cancer and had chemotherapy and radiation treatment. The new cancer was discovered during a routine, annual exam late last month at the National Institutes of Health.
A CAT scan revealed a tumour measuring about 1cm across at the centre of the pancreas, the court said.
Ms Ginsburg had recently told her former law clerks and others that she envisioned serving on the court into her 80s, although those comments were made before the latest diagnosis.
In her previous bout with cancer, Ms Ginsburg received treatment throughout the court's term and never missed a day on the bench.
The justices hold their next private conference on Feb 20 and return to the bench from their winter break on Feb 23.
The court's announcement offered few details about the surgery. -- AP
