Chief Justice William H. Rehnquist is undergoing treatment for thyroid cancer.
The Associated Press reports that Rehnquist underwent a tracheotomy at Bethesda Naval Hospital in Maryland on Saturday. The Chief Justice expects to be back at work next week when the court will next be in session:
The thyroid gland, located in the neck, produces hormones that help regulate the body's use of energy. There are several types of thyroid cancer and it was not immediately known which type affected the justice.
About 6,000 people develop various types of thyroid cancer each year in the United States.
Cancer has become common among the Supreme Court Justices. Justice John Paul Stevens had prostate cancer. Justice Sandra Day O'Connor had breast cancer and Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg had colon cancer.
President Richard Nixon named Rehnquist to the court in 1972. He was elevated to chief justice by President Ronald Reagan in 1986.
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