Pope Leo XIV needs no further cancer treatment, Vatican says
Vatican doctors say Pope Leo XIV's lung cancer was localised and requires no further therapy after his successful Oct 13 operation, capping a fast recovery that has him back in public within weeks.
Pope Leo XIV will need no further treatment after his lung-cancer surgery, the Vatican press office announced on Wednesday, closing the clinical chapter of a health scare that has dominated the first weeks of his 17-month pontificate.
The final histological reports and molecular biology analyses on the tissue removed during the Holy Father’s operation were completed on Wednesday, his personal physician Dr Luigi Carbone and Prof Stefano Margaritora, the thoracic surgeon at Rome’s Gemelli Hospital who led the team, said in a statement. “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.”
The operation went ahead on Oct 13, removing the lower lobe of his right lung after the nodule — found by chance during routine abdominal exams and disclosed on Oct 11 — proved to be a pulmonary adenocarcinoma, the most common lung-cancer type. He left Gemelli on Oct 17, four days after surgery, well ahead of an anticipated week-long stay.
He made his first public appearance two days later at the Sunday Angelus from the Apostolic Palace balcony, and on Oct 21 returned to St Peter’s Square for his first general audience since the operation, circling in the popemobile and telling the crowd: “Thank you for the support of your prayers.”
“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.
Dr Juanita Mora, a national medical spokesperson for the American Lung Association who was not on the care team, told CNN the pope’s recovery has been faster than normal, adding that he will likely have follow-up CT scans every three to six months in the first years, then annually.
The announcement comes two weeks before the pope’s scheduled Nov 6 trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru — 14 flights with high-altitude stops. Secretary of State Pietro Parolin has hinted the schedule may be relaxed, while the pope’s brother Louis Prevost, who is also battling cancer, told Fox News he was surprised the trip is going ahead.
More on this topic: all World stories
