Pope Leo XIV has been diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma after surgeons removed the lower lobe of his right lung in a successful operation on Tuesday.
The 71-year-old pope underwent thoracic surgery at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital, where he remained hospitalized following the 90-minute procedure.
“To ensure a radical resection, the lower lobe of the right lung was removed using a video-assisted technique,” a medical statement released by the Holy See Press Office said.
Vatican News reported that tissue examined during the operation confirmed the diagnosis suspected in preoperative tests.
“An intraoperative histological examination confirmed the diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma, as suspected from the preoperative examinations,” the doctors said.
Pope Leo was in the operating room for about three hours, while the operation itself lasted around 90 minutes. The Vatican said the surgery was successful and there were no complications.
The pope awoke normally after the procedure and returned to his room on the hospital’s 10th floor following a brief period of observation.
Postoperative examinations will be conducted on the removed tissue in the coming days, Vatican News said. A Vatican source told Agence France-Presse that further tests were being carried out to determine whether the cancer had spread.
The Vatican has not changed its earlier estimate that Pope Leo would remain hospitalized for about a week.
Matteo Bruni, director of the Holy See Press Office, said the pope asked for dinner after the operation and spent the evening with his secretaries and other Vatican staff.
The Holy See Press Office was expected to provide another update Wednesday on how the pope spent the night and any available test results.
Pope Leo disclosed Sunday that doctors had found a lung nodule during medical checks and said it had been detected “at a very early stage.”
“The doctors believe it would be right to intervene,” he told crowds gathered for the Angelus prayer in St. Peter’s Square.
Medical experts interviewed by AFP said the outlook for lung adenocarcinoma can be favorable when the disease is detected early and remains localized.
Juanita Mora, medical spokesperson for the American Lung Association, said that when this type of cancer is “caught in early stages, then it has a very, very good prognosis.”
She said further treatment would depend on the stage of the cancer and whether it had spread.
“They’ll determine if he needs chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted therapy, or immunotherapy for the adenocarcinoma,” Mora said.
David Carbone, director of the Oncology Center at Ohio State University, said removing part of the lung is a standard procedure.
“He had part of his right lung taken out, which is the standard procedure,” Carbone said.
Carbone said the decision to proceed directly to surgery could indicate that doctors believed the cancer was at an early stage.
“They really do go straight to surgery only for the earliest stage tumors, which makes me think this was a very early stage tumor, and has a quite good prognosis.”
He added that treatment for lung cancer had improved considerably. “The prognosis is better than ever. So I would be hopeful for a full recovery,” Carbone said.
The surgery marked Pope Leo’s first hospitalization since he became head of the Catholic Church on May 8, 2025.
His audiences have been canceled through Oct. 20 as he recovers.
The operation has also raised questions over his planned Nov. 6-17 visit to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, although the Vatican has not announced any change to the trip.
Cardinal Baldassare Reina, vicar general for the Diocese of Rome, led a rosary for the pope at the hospital chapel following the surgery and asked parishes across Rome to join in prayer.
Vatican Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin told Italian news agency ANSA that Pope Leo had been “very calm” when they met Monday before the operation.
