WASHINGTON -- Supreme Court Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg underwent surgery for pancreatic cancer Thursday, after a routine checkup disclosed an early-stage tumor, the court said.

Justice Ginsburg, the only woman on the court, was treated for colon cancer a decade ago. After a career as a law professor, a legal advocate for women's rights and a federal appellate judge, she was elevated to the high court by President Bill Clinton in 1993, becoming a reliable member of the court's liberal wing.

The Supreme Court gave no indication that Justice Ginsburg, 75 years old, had any immediate plans to step down. But if she does leave the court, President Barack Obama is likely to select a successor he would expect to continue her approach to the law. It is almost certain he would select a woman to join the eight male justices.

The Obama administration hasn't publicly signaled whom it might consider for a high-court vacancy. Candidates could include Kathleen Sullivan, 53, a professor and former dean of Stanford Law School; Georgia Chief Justice Leah Ward Sears, 53; and U.S. Circuit Judge Sonia Sotomayor, 54. Another oft-mentioned candidate, Harvard Law School Dean Elena Kagan, 48, is Mr. Obama's nominee for solicitor general, the official who represents the government before the Supreme Court.

The court offered few details about Justice Ginsburg's condition, other than stating that a CAT scan detected a tumor about one centimeter across in her pancreas late last month She had surgery Thursday at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York, the court said. It said her attending surgeon, Murray Brennan, expected the justice to remain hospitalized for seven to 10 days.