Justice Ginsburg Released from Hospital; Spleen Was Removed

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg was released today from a New York hospital after undergoing surgery for pancreatic cancer.

Ginsburg was admitted for surgery to remove a small, 1-centimeter pancreatic tumor discovered in a routine checkup.

That tumor turned out to be benign. However, when searching the entire pancreas, surgeons discovered a different, smaller growth that was a malignant, stage 1 tumor, according to the Associated Press and the Washington Post. The physicians also removed Ginsburg's spleen.

Supreme Court spokeswoman Kathy Arberg released the information in a statement posted to the U.S. Supreme Court website. She also reported that the cancer had not spread to Ginsburg’s lymph nodes or elsewhere in her body. The statement gave no explanation for the removal of Ginsburg's spleen, the Los Angeles Times notes.

Ginsburg was admitted to the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center eight days ago.

Corrected at 12:20 p.m. CT to reflect that the malignant tumor was found in a check of the pancreas, rather than the spleen.