Pope Leo XIV has lung lobe removed in Rome; biopsy confirms adenocarcinoma
Surgeons at Rome's Gemelli hospital removed the lower lobe of Pope Leo XIV's right lung on Tuesday, and tissue analysis during the operation confirmed a diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma, the Vatican said
Pope Leo XIV underwent surgery for a lung adenocarcinoma at the Agostino Gemelli University Polyclinic in Rome, where he was admitted late Tuesday morning, October 13. The Holy See Press Office said the thoracic surgery, which had been scheduled in advance, went ahead without complications.
Surgeons removed the lower lobe of the pope's right lung using a video-assisted technique. The statement said that approach was chosen to make sure the operation was radical.
The diagnosis was confirmed in the operating room itself. "The intraoperative histological examination has confirmed the diagnosis of a lung adenocarcinoma, as suspected from the preoperative examinations," said the statement, signed jointly by Dr. Luigi Carbone and Professor Stefano Margaritora.
Adenocarcinoma is a type of lung cancer that begins in cells of the lung tissue. The information released confirms the type of lesion and the operation performed, but it does not by itself establish the stage of the cancer or whether the pope will need further treatment.
The pope was in the operating room for about three hours, although the operation itself lasted around 90 minutes. He woke normally and, after a short period of observation, returned to his room on the tenth floor.
Two medical teams in the operating room
Margaritora led the surgical team, working with Professor Elisa Meacci, Dr. María Teresa Congedo and Dr. Leonardo Petracca Caravella. The anesthesia team was made up of Professor Massimo Antonelli and Drs. Giovanni Punzo and Giuseppe Bello.
Before the operation, the director of the Holy See Press Office, Matteo Bruni, said it would be headed "by the thoracic surgery medical team led by Professor Stefano Margaritora." The pope is 71.
The pope's own announcement
The pope announced the surgery himself on Sunday, during the midday prayer in St. Peter's Square, saying doctors had advised an operation after finding a nodule "at a very early stage and well localized."
On Monday, the Vatican canceled all the pope's audiences through October 20. Hours before the operation, the Holy See confirmed that his trip to Argentina, Uruguay and Peru remains on.
