Pope Leo XIV, the first American pope, has lung cancer. Surgeons in Rome removed the lower lobe of his right lung on Tuesday, and tests during the operation confirmed lung adenocarcinoma, the Vatican said. On Wednesday, his doctors said he was walking around his room and eating normally, and that his recovery “is proceeding as expected.”
Leo, 71, was born in Chicago. He’d announced the surgery himself on Sunday, saying doctors found a nodule in his lung. “The doctors believe it’s best to take action, so, following their advice, I’ve decided to have surgery to remove it,” he said, CBS News reported.
What kind of cancer does Pope Leo have?
Adenocarcinoma is the most common type of lung cancer in the U.S. Because his was found as a small nodule and removed early, doctors had said beforehand that the outlook would be good even if it turned out to be cancer. What isn’t known yet is whether it spread. “We’re going to need to get more information on his pathology,” said Dr. David Jones, chief of thoracic surgery at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, who isn’t treating the pope. “Were lymph nodes involved?” Lab tests on the removed tissue are still underway, Vatican News reported.
The operation used a minimally invasive, camera-guided technique and lasted about 90 minutes, with no complications, the surgeons said. Leo was in the operating room about three hours and was awake and asking for dinner that evening.
When will Pope Leo leave the hospital?
The Vatican expects him to stay at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital for about a week. All his audiences are canceled through Oct. 20. The big question is his trip to South America, scheduled to start Nov. 6. Patients are usually told to avoid flying for about three weeks after this kind of surgery, which puts the trip right at the edge. The Vatican hasn’t said whether it’s still on.
Secretary of State Marco Rubio said he and his wife were “united in prayer” for him.
The BeezLoop Take
The way this was handled deserves credit. Leo told the world about the nodule himself, before surgery, in plain language, and the Vatican released the diagnosis the same day. That’s a real break from a long tradition of papal health being treated as a state secret.
The early news is about as good as a cancer diagnosis gets: found small, removed whole, recovering on schedule. But the pathology report will matter more than any statement so far, and Catholics, especially here in the U.S., deserve the same straight talk when it comes.
The open question: will the Vatican release the full pathology results, including whether the cancer reached his lymph nodes?
Also on BeezLoop: Pope Leo warned we are at risk of losing our humanity.
Sources: CBS News · Vatican News · AP via PBS NewsHour · CBS Evening News (video)
