{"id":2665,"date":"2026-10-14T12:03:48","date_gmt":"2026-10-14T07:03:48","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=2665"},"modified":"2026-10-14T12:03:48","modified_gmt":"2026-10-14T07:03:48","slug":"pope-leo-diagnosed-with-cancer-as-doctors-remove-part-of-lung-vatican-says","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/?p=2665","title":{"rendered":"Pope Leo diagnosed with cancer as doctors remove part of lung, Vatican says"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

Pope Leo<\/strong><\/a> was diagnosed with lung cancer after surgeons removed a part of his right lung on \u200bTuesday, the Vatican said in a medical bulletin, marking a significant health setback for the 71-year-old pontiff.<\/strong><\/p>\n

The pope has lung adenocarcinoma, a common form of cancer, with tissue \u200ctests conducted during the operation confirming what doctors had suspected from preparatory examinations, the bulletin said.<\/p>\n

Leo was admitted to Rome\u2019s Gemelli hospital on Tuesday for surgery to remove the growth that doctors had discovered in a recent routine health check.<\/p>\n

The pope\u2019s lead surgeon, Dr Stefano Margaritora, and his personal physician, Dr Luigi Carbone, said in a statement that the procedure lasted about 90 minutes and was successful, with no complications.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo make \u200bthe procedure curative, the lower lobe of the right lung was removed using a video-assisted technique,\u201d they said, making clear that the aim was to eliminate \u200ball cancerous tissue.<\/p>\n

Human lungs have five lobes \u2013 three in the right lung and two in the left.<\/p>\n

A medical expert said that to assess the pope\u2019s case they would need to know the size of the tumour and whether the cancer had spread to his lymph nodes, information the \u200bVatican did not immediately provide.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we have the diagnosis, we do not yet have the stage. This is critical to prognosis and treatment,\u201d said Dr Stephen Liu, a lung cancer \u200bexpert at Georgetown University in Washington and division chief of haematology-oncology at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf this is a small lung cancer with no lymph nodes involved, surgery itself is likely to be curative,\u201d he told Reuters. \u201cBut if final analysis reveals a greater extent of cancer involvement, this indicates a poorer prognosis.\u201d<\/p>\n

<\/a>Resting in his hospital room<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The pope regained consciousness normally after the operation and later returned to \u200bhis hospital room, where he was resting, the medical bulletin said.<\/p>\n

The Vatican said earlier this week that he was expected to remain in hospital for about a week \u200band all his public events have been cancelled until October 20.<\/p>\n

Leo left the Vatican ahead of the surgery shortly before 1 p.m. (1100 GMT) in Rome and was seen waving from the back of \u200ca black \u2060SUV as his convoy drove about 9 km (5.6 miles) north of the Vatican to the Gemelli.<\/p>\n

Upon arrival at the hospital, Leo shook hands with several officials, walked in front of a waiting crowd of well-wishers, some of whom shouted \u2018Auguri\u2019 (best wishes), and headed in via the main entrance.<\/p>\n

Leo, elected by the world\u2019s cardinals in May 2025, is relatively young for a Church leader. He enjoys sports, including tennis, and is not known to be a smoker or to have had recent health issues.<\/p>\n

The late Pope Francis, Leo\u2019s predecessor, was \u200bhospitalised several times as he grew frail in \u200bhis later years. He died aged \u206088 in April 2025.<\/p>\n

Leo, who spoke in a firm, clear voice<\/a> at his only public event on Monday, keeps a very busy schedule. He is due to make an 11-day tour of Uruguay, Argentina and Peru from November 6 to 17, but it was not clear \u200bif this trip would still go ahead.<\/p>\n

<\/a>Typhoid fever<\/strong><\/h3>\n

The pope is the ultimate earthly authority for the world\u2019s 1.4 billion Catholics and \u200bdoes not have a \u2060deputy who steps in when he is sick.<\/p>\n

When a pope is incapacitated, the business of the Vatican\u2019s vast bureaucracy carries on as usual, holding off on any decisions that require papal approval.<\/p>\n

Leo, born in Chicago in 1955 as Robert Prevost, served for decades as a missionary and bishop in Peru before becoming pope.<\/p>\n

In 1985, when he was a young priest, \u2060he came \u200bdown with typhoid fever in Chulucanas, Peru and was hospitalised.<\/p>\n

He recounted the experience in his only major \u200binterview given as pope, in a book for Penguin Peru.<\/p>\n

Leo said the pain was so bad that he asked God to die rather than continue suffering. He took his survival as a sign from God that \u201cWe \u200bneed you here (on Earth),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cI never looked back,\u201d said Leo.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Pope Leo was diagnosed with lung cancer after surgeons removed a part of his right lung on \u200bTuesday, the Vatican said in a medical bulletin, marking a significant health setback for the 71-year-old pontiff. The pope has lung adenocarcinoma, a common form of cancer, with tissue \u200ctests conducted during the operation confirming what doctors had suspected from preparatory examinations, the bulletin said. Leo was admitted to Rome\u2019s Gemelli hospital on Tuesday for surgery to remove the growth that doctors had discovered in a recent routine health check. The pope\u2019s lead…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-2665","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-english"],"gutentor_comment":0,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2665","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=2665"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2665\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=2665"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=2665"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ipp-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=2665"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}