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A Sad News Day

As everyone has probably already heard, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg has been hospitalized for early-stage pancreatic cancer. It sounds quite serious. I'm sure everyone is wishing her a speedy recovery.

Various news reports have bandied around a five year survival rate of 5% for this type of cancer. However, this statistic reflects the fact that diagnoses of pancreatic cancer often doesn't occur until late stages. A commentator on the Volokh Conspiracy mentions (but doesn't cite) a five-year survival rate of 18-25% for localized tumors of less than 2 cm; Justice Ginsburg's tumor is apparently less than 1 cm. If true, these statistics may help us to be a little more hopeful than some of the initial reporting.

Full post as published by Nuts & Boalts on February 05, 2009 (boomark / email).