Pope Leo needs no further treatment after lung cancer surgery

Pope Leo XIV needs no further treatment after surgery for lung cancer, the Pope’s doctors have said, following final tests on the tumour removed on 13 October.

Dr Luigi Carbone and Professor Stefano Margaritora, the surgeon who operated on the Pope, issued the statement on the evening of 21 October, and the Holy See Press Office released it, Vatican News reported.

“The final histopathology and molecular testing reports on the tissue removed during the Holy Father’s surgery were issued today. The results confirmed that the tumor was a lung adenocarcinoma and that the disease was localized,” the statement said.

“A subsequent oncological assessment has confirmed that no further treatment is necessary,” it added.

The Pope underwent the operation at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital on 13 October, when the lower lobe of the right lung was removed. A statement issued that day said the operation was successful and there were no complications. It confirmed the diagnosis but did not say whether further treatment was planned.

Leo left the hospital on 17 October after five days. In an interview published that day, Margaritora said the operation was routine, in that the whole lobe containing a tumour of a certain size has to be removed. He said the tumour was found by chance during routine abdominal examinations and had caused no respiratory symptoms.

The surgeon said then that the Pope needed about another ten days to recover fully. On the Pope’s visit to Latin America, scheduled for 6 to 17 November, he said there were “no clinical reasons why this visit should not take place”.

At the end of the Angelus prayer in St Peter’s Square the next day, Leo said: “Now that this delicate phase has passed—as you know—I will gradually resume my activities, always with the help of God and your prayers.”

The Pope then held the weekly General Audience in St Peter’s Square on 21 October, according to the press office’s bulletin of that day.