U.S. Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, is scheduled to undergo a "precautionary" course of chemotherapy later this month at the National Institutes of Health outside Washington the Supreme Court announced Tuesday.

Ginsburg, 76, the lone woman on the nine-member court, had undergone surgery last month for pancreatic cancer. In a statement released by the court, Ginsburg said, "I am scheduled to undergo a precautionary, post-surgery course of chemotherapy at the National Institutes of Health."

"The treatments, which will commence in late March, are not expected to affect my schedule at the court. Thereafter, it is anticipated that I will require only routine examinations to assure my continuing good health."
Democratic President Bill Clinton appointed Ginsburg to the court in 1993 and Ginsburg, Souter and Justice John Paul Stevens frequently have been mentioned as likely to step down in the next few years.

Now questions are being raised on how much longer Ginsberg can stay on at her present job post her pancreatic cancer surgery. She had colon cancer in 1999 and was treated with chemotherapy and radiation at that time.

Ginsberg called the February 5 removal of her cancer "successful," and her post-op recovery has gone well. In the statement Ginsburg said she underwent "a complete, successful, surgical removal of a pancreatic cancer" on February 5 at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York City."

According to an earlier statement from the court the doctors removed a small malignant lesion from her pancreas. All lymph nodes proved negative for cancer and no metastasis was found.

She was back on the bench 18 days later when the high court resumed oral arguments. Doctors and family are optimistic according to court sources and said that the disease was detected early, before it could spread beyond her pancreas.

Dr. Otis Brawley, chief medical officer of the American Cancer Society explained, "Cancer patients with no evidence of disease after surgery but who have a statistical chance that there is microscopic spread often get chemotherapy to kill off that disease."

A previous news release said a CT scan in January "revealed a small tumor, approximately one centimeter across, in the center of the pancreas," after which Ginsburg went in for surgery.

On her retirement plans, Ginsburg told an audience last week in Boston, Massachusetts, that she had no plans to retire, but on the subject of court retirements she hinted cryptically, "We haven't had any of those for some time, but surely we will soon."

Ginsburg said her former colleague, retired Justice Sandra Day O'Connor also a cancer survivor advised her, "She said when you're up to chemotherapy, you do it on Friday, Friday afternoon. You'll get over it over the weekend, and you'll be able to come to the court on Monday," said Ginsburg, who noted O'Connor returned to work nine days after her breast cancer diagnosis. "So I've been following her advice meticulously."