Ruth Bader Ginsburg Underwent Cancer Surgery
1) There were two nodules.
2) Initial evaluation (i.e. frozen section) was done on both nodules, and both were malignant.
3) She underwent lobectomy (meaning both nodules were in the same lung).
Anyone who's not familiar with the TNM staging system can google it. It's basically a way doctors can measure the size and extent of tumors in order to formulate a prognosis.
I'm assuming that the two malignant nodules are separated in the resected lobe, and are histologically the same tumor. The second is my biggest assumption. She could have two separate cancers arising independently, but that's statistically less likely given the spatial relationship. It's uncommon to have two cancers at the same time, and even less common for them to occur right next to each other unless there's some outside factor (e.g. carcinogen exposure, radiation field, etc.). So the two cancers are most likely related, but not necessarily.
Based on this, she likely has pT3N0M0 cancer. There's a lot of doctor-talk in there, but the basic gist is that the second nodule implies metastatic spread to a different part of the lung. That puts her at increased risk for metastatic spread elsewhere in the body, although there is apparently no evidence of that yet. They won't give her chemo unless they have evidence that it has, so she'll be monitored very closely. The 5-year survival for pT3 lung cancer is ~55-60%.
Edit: Actually, another assumption I'm making is that these are both primary to the lung. If they're not, the prognosis is worse.
Alright, I'm going to parse some wording here. I obviously have no knowledge of this case beyond what's in this press release, but two things stick out to me:Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg underwent surgery on Friday to remove two malignant nodules from her left lung, according to Kathleen Arberg, a Supreme Court spokeswoman. The nodules were discovered during tests following a fall in November in which Justice Ginsburg fractured her ribs.
The surgery, called a pulmonary lobectomy, took place at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City.
According to the thoracic surgeon, Dr. Valerie W. Rusch, the nodules removed during surgery were found to be malignant on initial pathology evaluation, Ms. Arberg said in a statement.
After the surgery, she added, “there was no evidence of any remaining disease” and “scans performed before surgery indicated no evidence of disease elsewhere in the body.”
1) There were two nodules.
2) Initial evaluation (i.e. frozen section) was done on both nodules, and both were malignant.
3) She underwent lobectomy (meaning both nodules were in the same lung).
Anyone who's not familiar with the TNM staging system can google it. It's basically a way doctors can measure the size and extent of tumors in order to formulate a prognosis.
I'm assuming that the two malignant nodules are separated in the resected lobe, and are histologically the same tumor. The second is my biggest assumption. She could have two separate cancers arising independently, but that's statistically less likely given the spatial relationship. It's uncommon to have two cancers at the same time, and even less common for them to occur right next to each other unless there's some outside factor (e.g. carcinogen exposure, radiation field, etc.). So the two cancers are most likely related, but not necessarily.
Based on this, she likely has pT3N0M0 cancer. There's a lot of doctor-talk in there, but the basic gist is that the second nodule implies metastatic spread to a different part of the lung. That puts her at increased risk for metastatic spread elsewhere in the body, although there is apparently no evidence of that yet. They won't give her chemo unless they have evidence that it has, so she'll be monitored very closely. The 5-year survival for pT3 lung cancer is ~55-60%.
Edit: Actually, another assumption I'm making is that these are both primary to the lung. If they're not, the prognosis is worse.
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