Pope Leo Diagnosed With Lung Cancer After Surgery
The Vatican says tests during the operation confirmed an adenocarcinoma, and that the entire lower lobe of the 71-year-old’s right lung was removed to ensure the procedure was radical. The surgery was successful with no complications. The stage has not been disclosed.
Two descriptions are circulating and they are not the same thing. On Sunday the Pope told the crowd in St Peter’s Square that the growth was “contained” and found “at a very early stage” — his own words about a nodule, before any diagnosis. What the Vatican issued after surgery is a confirmed cancer, with no stage given and no statement on whether it has spread; a source says further tests are under way. The lump was found during routine checks and he had no symptoms. The operation took ninety minutes, led by the Gemelli hospital’s chief thoracic surgeon, and he is expected to stay about a week. The question now is the diary. Audiences are cleared only to 20 October, and he is due in Latin America in early November including Peru, where he served as a missionary and bishop — a cardinal who saw him on Monday says he moved quickly precisely to keep that trip. Patients are usually advised against flying for about three weeks after such a procedure, which would take him to the edge of it.