Pope Leo Diagnosed With Lung Cancer After Surgery

Pope Leo XIV has been diagnosed with lung cancer, after a surgical operation to remove part of his right lung. Earlier this week, during a Sunday prayer meeting at St. Peter’s Square, Pope Leo stated his intent to undergo the operation to remove a small, early-stage nodule in his lung.

The operation was performed at the Gemelli Hospital, in Rome, the primary care facility for Pope Leo XIV and his papal predecessors. Led by surgeon Stefano Margaritora, the surgery took 90 minutes, and removed the lower lobe of the Pope’s right lung. Pope Leo’s personal physician, Dr. Luigi Carbone, has declared in a statement that the operation proceeded without complications. The Pope is expected to stay in the hospital for about a week, and the Vatican has cancelled all his public events until October 20.

On the Wednesday following the operation, an open-air Mass was held in the same square Pope Leo made his announcement. Cardinal Luis Tagle from the Philippines, newly approved dean of the College of Cardinals, led the service in place of the Pope. Cardinal Tagle is the first Asian to be appointed to the position, and as dean, will be organizing the vote for the next Pope when it happens.

The same day, Prof. Margaritora and Dr. Carbone confirmed that Pope Leo’s recovery was proceeding smoothly. The 71-year-old pontiff was able to walk around his room post-operation, and he was also undergoing respiratory physiotherapy. The Pope thanked the Catholic public for their prayers on Wednesday in a statement on the Holy See, the Vatican’s official site. After his thanks for “[their] prayers and for the work [they] have done together”, he then urged them to continue “to pray for me, as I pray for you”, ending with a blessing.

The operation was intended to eliminate tissue from the Pope’s lung which were suspected to be cancerous. Tests conducted on the removed tissues led the doctors to diagnosing the Pope with lung adenocarcinoma, one of the most common kinds of lung cancer.

Lung adenocarcinoma is a subtype of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), the most common kind of lung cancer. This kind of cancer occurs when glandular cells in the lungs begin to grow uncontrollably, and is most often found in the alveoli, tiny air sacs responsible for facilitating exchange of oxygen and carbon dioxide.

Lung adenocarcinoma is known to be less aggressive than other forms of NSCLC. It is often found in smokers, though one in five patients, like Pope Leo XIV, has no history of smoking.

Learn more: Lung adenocarcinoma

According to Dr. Serena Ricciardi, a lung cancer specialist from the San Camillo Forlanini Hospital, it is possible that the surgery was curative, depending on the cancer’s spread. If the lung cancer had not yet spread to the lymph nodes (small, connected glands throughout the body that collect waste products and filter the lymph fluid for infections), the removal of the nodule could be enough to remove the cancer. As such, further diagnostic tests are needed to measure the extent of spread, and accurately stage Pope Leo’s lung cancer.

Learn more: Lung Cancer Survival Rates

Whether the Pope will proceed with his scheduled trip to South America in November is also in question. The 11-day trip, announced last month, would have had Pope Leo leading more than 50 events and 36 speeches across 10 cities in Uruguay, Argentina, and Peru.

Keiko Fujimori, the President of Peru, has already announced that the timing of the trip could be changed depending on the Pope’s recovery time. The Pope’s diagnosis would also affect the timing and itinerary, especially considering the strenuous pace of activities planned.