Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg Had Two Cancerous Lung Nodules Removed. Here's What That Means

The Supreme Court announced Friday that Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 85, had two cancerous nodules removed from her left lung. There is “no evidence of any remaining disease,” and Ginsburg, a pancreatic cancer survivor, is recovering well after a pulmonary lobectomy at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City, the Supreme Court said. What does Ginsburg’s diagnosis mean? Here’s what lung nodules are, and what to know about them. What is a lung nodule? The term “pulmonary nodule” refers to a round or ovular growth on the lung that is three centimeters in diameter or smaller; a growth larger than that is considered a pulmonary mass, according to the Cleveland Clinic, and is more likely to be cancerous. More than 90% of nodules that are less than two centimeters in diameter turn out to be benign, the Cleveland Clinic says. While Ginsburg’s nodules were found to be malignant, or cancerous, her surgeon said they were removed successfully, and that pre-operative scans “indicated no evidence of disease elsewhere in the body,” according to the Supreme Court’s statement. What causes lung nodules? Your likelihood of developing cancerous nodules can also be increased by well-known risk factors for lung cancer — including smoking, asbestos exposure and family history, the American Thoracic Society says. But these growths can also form due to inflammation or scar tissue related to other infections or diseases...
Source: TIME: Health - Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Tags: Uncategorized healthytime medicine onetime Supreme Court Source Type: news