Doctors: Pope’s cancer has not spread

After lung surgery

Doctors: Pope’s cancer has not spread

There was great concern for Leo and the results of the tissue samples were eagerly awaited. It is now clear: his lung cancer was localized. No further therapy is necessary.

The Lung cancer According to his doctors, Pope Leo XIV did not spread. Examinations of the tissue removed from the lungs during an operation confirmed that the disease was localized, said the doctors treating the 71-year-old head of the Catholic Church at the Gemelli Clinic Rome with. Further therapy was not necessary; an oncological assessment revealed this.

On Tuesday last week, the pontiff had the lower lobe of his right lung, which contained a malignant tumor, removed. On Saturday, Leo was able to leave the hospital in the northwest of the Italian capital after just a few days. The very next day he said the traditional Angelus prayer in front of tens of thousands of believers from all over the world from the window of the Apostolic Palace.

It was recently unclear whether the Pope was cancer-free after the 90-minute procedure. The medical bulletin from the treating doctors Luigi Carbone and Stefano Margaritora now stated that the “final histological findings as well as the molecular biological examinations” of the tissue material removed during the procedure had been evaluated and documented.

In the evening of Vatican The statement continued: “The results confirmed that it was a lung adenocarcinoma and that the disease was localized.” According to experts, lung adenocarcinoma is the most common form of lung cancer. From the point of view of the doctors, further therapy is not necessary. The final histological findings were eagerly awaited.

Experts had previously explained that in the best case scenario – if the cancer had not spread – the Pope would already be healed after the operation and that all that was left was some follow-up care. Even the loss of a lobe of the lung does not have to be dramatic. The loss of one of the five lobes is associated with around 10 to 20 percent loss of lung performance, which is often hardly noticeable in everyday life.

The Pope has a tight schedule of appointments in the coming days and weeks. In particular, an almost two-week trip to South America with stops in Uruguay, Argentina and Peru The beginning of November was on the verge. One of the doctors treating him recently assured him that from a medical point of view there was nothing against the trip. With the results now published, nothing should stand in the way of the trip.

However, it is unclear whether the trip could be adapted to the Pope’s condition given the sporting program. After the long flight from Rome to South America, Leo also wants to visit the Peruvian Andean city of Cusco at an altitude of 3,400 meters, which some doctors view with skepticism. A visit to Cusco can lead to breathing problems, especially for those with lung disease. Some visitors also complain of altitude sickness.