Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg revealed that she is “cancer free” on Tuesday in an interview in her chambers with CNN, reports the outlet. The 86-year-old has been treated for cancer twice in the past 13 months — for a tumor on her pancreas in August and lung cancer in December 2018.
In the interview, the justice told CNN her year was off to a good start. “I’m cancer free. That’s good,” she told CNN.
Last August, Ginsburg underwent a three-week course of radiation for a tumor on her pancreas, according to a release sent by the Supreme Court. The tumor was treated “definitively,” according to the statement, and there is no evidence of disease elsewhere in the body.
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In December of 2018, she underwent surgery to remove two cancerous nodules from her lung. In January 2019, she missed oral arguments for what was first time in more than 25 years.
“Post-surgery evaluation indicates no evidence of remaining disease, and no further treatment is required,” a spokesperson for the Supreme Court said a few weeks later.
The legendary justice has had multiple other health issues over the past few years, including fracturing three ribs on her left side after a fall in her office in late 2018 and being hospitalized for chills and fever in November.
She has now been treated for cancer four times over the last two decades. She had colorectal cancer in 1999 and pancreatic cancer in 2009.
Both liberals and conservatives are closely watching the health of Ginsburg, who is the court’s oldest justice. President Trump has already successfully added two conservative justice to the court and adding a third could significantly swing the court to the right.
The interview comes before the Supreme Court is set to resume oral arguments for 2020 next week. The court will weigh in on myriad issues this year, including workplace right for gay and transgender people, new abortion restrictions, the first major second amendment case in over 10 years and the rollback of deportation protections for undocumented immigrants.
