Ruth Bader Ginsburg announces cancer recurrence, will remain on the Supreme Court

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg said Friday she is undergoing chemotherapy to treat a recurrence of cancer.

The treatment is yielding “positive results,” the 87-year-old liberal justice said in a statement, adding that she remains “fully able” to continue in her post.

Owing to her age and long medical history, Ginsburg’s health is the subject of widespread interest given her status as a liberal icon. The prospect that President Donald Trump could name a third justice to the Supreme Court would also be a major election issue.

Earlier this week, Ginsburg was treated at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore after having a fever and chills, and undergoing an “endoscopic procedure to clean out a bile duct stent that was placed last August,” the court said at the time.

Ginsburg said her cancer treatment is unrelated to this week’s incident.

Ginsburg was also in the hospital in early May. At that time, she participated in oral arguments from her hospital bed, asking questions in a case concerning Obamacare’s so-called contraceptive mandate.

Friday’s statement indicates that the pancreatic cancer Ginsburg was treated for in 2009 has returned again, this time in her liver, and that she tried one of the new immunotherapies for cancer, but it failed to shrink the tumors. It is not liver cancer.

Gemcitabine is a standard chemotherapy treatment that is a mainstay for pancreatic cancer that has spread.

Ginsburg has had several bouts with cancer. She had radiation therapy for the pancreatic cancer in 2019 and had some tumors taken out of a lung in 2018. She had colon cancer in 1999.

Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg is seen in Washington in 2013. She was the second woman to serve on the Supreme Court.

Ginsburg was born Joan Ruth Bader on March 15, 1933. Here she is at 2 years old.

A photo of Ginsburg from her high school yearbook.

Ginsburg, 13, sits immediately to the left of Rabbi Harry Halpern at the East Midwood Jewish Center, a synagogue in Brooklyn, New York, in 1946.

Ginsburg and her cousin Richard ski at a lodge in the Adirondacks circa 1946.

Ginsburg is the maid of honor at a cousin's wedding in 1951.

Ginsburg met her husband, Martin, while attending Cornell University, and both went on to study law. The couple were engaged in December 1953.

Ginsburg and her husband married in June 1954. She was 21 at the time.

The couple went on to have two children: Jane, born in 1955, and James, born in 1965.

A portrait of Ginsburg from 1977. At the time, she was a professor at the Columbia University School of Law. She was also a general counsel for the American Civil Liberties Union.

Ginsburg is joined by family members on the steps of the US Supreme Court after arguing a case there in November 1978. With Ginsburg, from left, are her brother-in-law Ed Stiepleman; her nephew David Stiepleman; and her son, James.

Ginsburg was the first woman to be hired with tenure at the Columbia University School of Law. She also taught at the Rutgers University School of Law.

Ginsburg, her husband and their two children -— James and Jane — pose for a photo off the shore of St. Thomas in 1979.

In 1980, US President Jimmy Carter nominated Ginsburg to be a judge for the US Court of Appeals' District of Columbia Circuit.

Ginsburg in her chambers at the US Courthouse in Washington.

Ginsburg, her husband and their children vacation in Egypt in 1985.

Ginsburg and her husband take a bus to Paris circa 1988.

Ginsburg reads to a group of children at the 10th anniversary of the TV show "Reading Rainbow" in 1993.

President Bill Clinton nominated Ginsburg to the US Supreme Court in June 1993. Here, Ginsburg is holding a photograph of Hillary Clinton singing "the toothbrush song" with Ginsburg's granddaughter Clara and her nursery school class.

Ginsburg talks with a reporter after being nominated for the Supreme Court in 1993. On the far right is US Sen. Joe Biden. US Sen. Daniel Patrick Moynihan is wearing the bowtie.

Ginsburg is greeted by her husband during her confirmation hearing before the Senate Judiciary Committee.

During her confirmation hearing, Ginsburg holds up a book titled "My Grandma is Very Special." It was written by Paul Spera, her grandson.

Ginsburg takes the Supreme Court oath from Chief Justice William Rehnquist, right, in August 1993. Joining them were Clinton and Martin Ginsburg.

From the steps of the Supreme Court, Rehnquist introduces Ginsburg to the press in October 1993.

Ginsburg poses with family members at the Supreme Court in October 1993. With Ginsburg, from left, are her son-in-law, George Spera; her daughter, Jane; her granddaughter Clara Spera; her husband, Martin; her son, James; and her grandson Paul Spera.

Ginsburg and her husband embrace while attending an event. The two were married for nearly 60 years. Martin Ginsburg died in 2010.

This informal group photo was taken of the US Supreme Court in December 1993. From left are Clarence Thomas, John Paul Stevens, Antonin Scalia, Chief Justice William Rehnquist, Sandra Day O'Connor, Anthony Kennedy, David Souter, Ginsburg and Harry Blackmun.

Scalia and Ginsburg pose on an elephant during their tour of India in 1994. Scalia once said they were an "odd couple" and he counted her as his "best buddy" on the bench.

Ginsburg, second from left, and Scalia, second from right, appeared in the opening-night production of "Ariadne auf Naxos," an opera at the Kennedy Center in Washington in 1994.

Ginsburg and fellow Justice Sandra Day O'Connor hold basketballs given to them by the US women's basketball team in December 1995.

Ginsburg, front right, poses with other prominent Jewish-Americans while standing in a maze on New York's Ellis Island in 1996. It was part of a project by photographer Frederic Brenner. Also in the front row, from left, are artist Roy Lichtenstein, actress Lauren Bacall, violinist Itzhak Perlman and playwright Arthur Miller.

Ginsburg sits in her Supreme Court chambers in 2002.

Ginsburg makes her way through a crowd after an address at an ACLU conference in June 2003.

Ginsburg and her husband laugh as they listen to Supreme Court Justice Stephen Breyer speak at Columbia Law School in September 2003.

Ginsburg stands with President George W. Bush and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice at the Department of State in January 2005. Ginsburg had sworn in Rice that day.

From left, Supreme Court Justices Stephen Breyer, John Roberts, Ginsburg and Anthony Kennedy pose for a photo before meeting with French President Nicolas Sarkozy in Paris in July 2007.

Ginsburg wears a "Super Diva" sweatshirt as she works out at the Supreme Court in August 2007.

Ginsburg talks with filmmaker David Grubin about his PBS series "The Jewish Americans" in 2008.

Ginsburg arrives to a joint session of Congress where President Barack Obama was speaking in 2009. That month, Ginsburg had surgery and treatment for early stages of pancreatic cancer. A decade before, she had successful surgery for colon cancer.

The only women who have become Supreme Court justices pose together in 2010. From left are Sandra Day O'Connor, Sonia Sotomayor, Ginsburg and Elena Kagan.

While standing to receive an honorary degree from Harvard University, Ginsburg was surprised with a serenade from Spanish tenor Placido Domingo in 2011. Domingo also received an honorary degree.

Ginsburg visits with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton at the State Department in Washington in 2012.

In August 2013, Ginsburg celebrated her 20th anniversary on the Supreme Court.

President Barack Obama hugs Ginsburg as he arrives to deliver the State of the Union address in January 2015. Ginsburg didn't shy away from fashion. She often accessorized her black robe with intricate lace collars and an array of different gloves.

Ginsburg, with an extra from "Carmen," attends the opera at the Kennedy Center in Washington in October 2015.

Ginsburg acknowledges applause before a speaking event in Chicago in September 2017.

Ginsburg arrives to speak at New York University's law school in February 2018.

Ginsburg gives a keynote address at Columbia University in February 2018.

Ginsburg and other Supreme Court justices attend a Presidential Medal of Freedom ceremony at the White House in November 2018.

The US Supreme Court, with newest member Brett Kavanaugh, poses for an official portrait in Washington in November 2018. In the back row, from left, are Neil Gorsuch, Sonia Sotomayor, Elena Kagan and Kavanaugh. In the front row, from left, are Stephen Breyer, Clarence Thomas, Chief Justice John Roberts, Ginsburg and Samuel Alito.

Ginsburg leaves a private ceremony at the Great Hall of the Supreme Court, where former Justice John Paul Stevens was lying in repose in July 2019.

Ginsburg makes her first public appearance since it was announced in August 2019 that she had undergone recent treatment for pancreatic cancer. While accepting an honorary degree from the University at Buffalo, she made remarks and briefly referenced her health.

In December 2019, Ginsburg was awarded the Berggruen Institute Prize for Philosophy and Culture. She planned to donate the $1 million prize to a number of organizations that promote opportunities for women.

Ginsburg participates in a discussion about the 19th Amendment at the Georgetown University Law Center in February 2020. The 19th Amendment guaranteed women the right to vote.

In photos: Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg

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The court ended its term last week with a ruling upholding the ability of Congress and a New York prosecutor to attempt to obtain Trump’s financial records. But the court this week has also ruled on two death penalty appeals and a Florida voting access case.

Here is Friday’s full statement as distributed by the court:

“On May 19, I began a course of chemotherapy (gemcitabine) to treat a recurrence of cancer. A periodic scan in February followed by a biopsy revealed lesions on my liver. My recent hospitalizations to remove gall stones and treat an infection were unrelated to this recurrence.

Supreme Court Associate Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg speaks about her work and gender equality during a panel discussion at the Georgetown University Law Center in Washington, Tuesday, July 2, 2019. (AP Photo/Manuel Balce Ceneta)

Related article Ruth Bader Ginsburg discharged from the hospital and doing well

“Immunotherapy first essayed proved unsuccessful. The chemotherapy course, however, is yielding positive results. Satisfied that my treatment course is now clear, I am providing this information.

“My most recent scan on July 7 indicated significant reduction of the liver lesions and no new disease. I am tolerating chemotherapy well and am encouraged by the success of my current treatment. I will continue bi-weekly chemotherapy to keep my cancer at bay, and am able to maintain an active daily routine. Throughout, I have kept up with opinion writing and all other Court work.

“I have often said I would remain a member of the Court as long as I can do the job full steam. I remain fully able to do that.”

This story is breaking and will be updated.

CNN’s Maggie Fox, Jamie Gumbrecht and Ariane de Vogue contributed to this report.