▲ Pope Leo XIV arrives at Rome's Gemelli Hospital to undergo surgery for a pulmonary nodule on the 13th, local time
Pope Leo XIV underwent scheduled chest surgery and was confirmed to have been diagnosed with lung cancer, Reuters reported on the 13th, local time, citing an announcement from the Vatican.
According to the reports and the Vatican's announcement, the Pope spent three hours in the operating room at the Agostino Gemelli University Hospital in Rome, Italy, where he underwent thoracic surgery that afternoon.
The surgery itself lasted about 90 minutes.
The Vatican added that the Pope woke up normally after the surgery.
The medical team led by Professor Stefano Margaritora, who performed the procedure, stated in a post-surgery statement, "For radical surgery (performed with the aim of a complete cure), the lower lobe of the right lung was resected using thoracoscopy."
They explained, "A biopsy performed during the surgery confirmed a diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma, which was anticipated during pre-surgical evaluations."
The medical team stated that the surgery was successful and without complications.
Lung adenocarcinoma refers to cancer that develops from lung cells that have the function of secreting bodily fluids.
Adenocarcinoma accounts for about 40% of all lung cancers, and it is known that a high proportion of non-smokers who develop lung cancer have adenocarcinoma.
Medical experts believe that evaluating the Pope's condition requires knowing the size of the removed tumor and whether there is lymph node metastasis.
The Vatican has not yet released specific information regarding this.
Dr. Stephen Liu, a hematology and oncology specialist at Georgetown University Hospital in the United States, told Reuters, "We have a diagnosis, but we don't yet know what stage the cancer is in," adding, "If it is a small lung cancer with no lymph node metastasis, surgery alone has a high likelihood of a complete cure, but if final analysis results reveal that the cancer has spread more widely, it suggests a poor prognosis."
Previously, the Vatican announced that all official audiences scheduled with the Pope through the 20th have been canceled due to this surgery.
Pope Leo XIV, 71 this year, is considered to have become Pope at a relatively younger age than his predecessors.
He enjoys sports such as tennis and is known to have no significant past medical history.
Gemelli Hospital is a non-profit Catholic teaching hospital equipped with special accommodations and a chapel for the Pope on the 10th floor.
The hospital has earned the nickname "the third Vatican" because Pope John Paul II spent a long time there in the past.
(Photo: AP, Yonhap News)
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