Pope Leo’s Doctors Confirm His Lung Cancer Was Localized And Say No Further Treatment Is Needed

Pope Leo XIV’s doctors completed their final report this week, and it is the report the Vatican had hoped for. The Holy See Press Office said on Wednesday, October 21, quoting the medical bulletin: “The final histological reports and molecular biology analyses of the tissue removed during the Holy Father’s surgery have been completed… The results have confirmed that the condition was a pulmonary adenocarcinoma and that the disease was localized. A subsequent oncological evaluation has confirmed that no further therapy is required.”

Leo announced the diagnosis himself. At the Sunday Angelus on October 11, he told the crowd in St. Peter’s Square that doctors had found a “localized nodule” in his lung during recent examinations, that it had been detected “at a very early stage and is well localized,” and that he had decided to undergo surgery on his doctors’ advice.

The operation took place on Tuesday, October 13, at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital. Surgeons removed the lower lobe of his right lung using a video-assisted, minimally invasive technique, in the Vatican’s words, “to ensure the radical removal of the tumor.” He spent about three hours in the operating room; the procedure itself took about 90 minutes. “The surgery was successful, and there were no complications,” the Vatican said. The surgical team was led by Prof. Stefano Margaritora, Gemelli’s chief of thoracic surgery; the pope’s personal physician is Dr. Luigi Carbone. Testing during the operation confirmed the cancer was a pulmonary adenocarcinoma, the most common form of lung cancer, accounting for about 40 percent of cases.

It was Leo’s first hospitalization since becoming pope, and his public engagements were cancelled through October 20. He celebrated Mass at the hospital on Friday, October 16, the day the Vatican released the first photographs of him since the surgery, and he was discharged the following day, Saturday, October 17. On Sunday, October 18, he led the Angelus himself. “This experience has given me a profound sense of closeness to all those who are going through illness or a state of infirmity,” he said.

On Wednesday, October 21, the same day the lab results were published, he returned to St. Peter’s Square for his first general audience since the operation, standing in the back of the open popemobile. On Friday, October 23, a further statement from his surgeon and his personal doctor said a chest examination showed “excellent progress” in his recovery, and the Vatican described him as gradually resuming his normal duties. No stand-in or interim arrangement was named at any point.

One engagement has been cut. The Vatican announced Friday that Leo will not attend the peace meeting in Assisi — titled “Unarmed and Disarming Peace,” and running October 25 to 27 — saying: “To support his recovery following thoracic surgery last Tuesday, and in accordance with doctors’ advice, Pope Leo XIV will be unable to attend.” The stated reason was avoiding the helicopter flight as a precaution; he will send a message to the organizers instead.

One question remains open. The Vatican has not said whether his scheduled trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, set for November 6 to 17, will go ahead.

Leo, 71, was born Robert Francis Prevost in Chicago and is the first American pope. He was elected in May 2025, on the fourth ballot of a two-day conclave, succeeding Pope Francis, who died in April 2025 at 88. He is the 267th pope.

Sources: The Holy See Press Office; Reuters; CNN.