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Surgery confirms Pope has lung cancer, Vatican says
The 71-year-old had the lower lobe of his right lung removed Tuesday
The Associated Press · Posted: Oct 13, 2026 7:47 AM EDT | Last Updated: 21 minutes ago
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Pope Leo leaves the Vatican on Tuesday for the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome, where he was operated on to remove a lung nodule. (Andrew Medichini/The Associated Press)
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The tests confirmed a diagnosis of lung adenocarcinoma, the Vatican said in a medical bulletin after the surgery. It said the diagnosis had been suspected by preoperative tests and was confirmed during surgery.
The statement made no mention of treatment going forward, and the Vatican said doctors were not currently speaking of chemotherapy or other therapies. The Vatican press office noted the medical statement spoke of the "radical" removal of the lobe as an indication that doctors removed all suspect tissue in hopes of removing any lingering traces of the cancer.
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Human lungs have five lobes — three in the right lung and two in the left.
A medical expert said that to assess the pope's case, more information would be needed about the size of the tumour and whether the cancer had spread to his lymph nodes. The Vatican did not immediately provide those details.
"While we have the diagnosis, we do not yet have the stage. This is critical to prognosis and treatment," said Dr. Stephen Liu, a lung cancer expert at Georgetown University in Washington and division chief of hematology-oncology at MedStar Georgetown University Hospital.
"If this is a small lung cancer with no lymph nodes involved, surgery itself is likely to be curative," he told Reuters. "But if final analysis reveals a greater extent of cancer involvement, this indicates a poorer prognosis."
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The 71-year-old was in the operating room for about three hours, the statement said. The surgery itself lasted approximately 90 minutes. The pope regained consciousness normally after the operation and later returned to his hospital room, where he was resting, the bulletin said.
Leo had walked into the hospital through the main entrance earlier in the day and waved to dozens of well-wishers who had gathered to greet him. The Vatican said the surgery was performed by a team led by Gemelli's chief thoracic surgeon, Dr. Stefano Margaritora.
Oncologists said prior to the operation that even if the nodule turned out to be cancerous, Leo's prognosis is "excellent" since it will have been removed at an early stage.
People wait for Pope Leo to arrive at the Agostino Gemelli Polyclinic in Rome ahead of his operation. (Alessandra Tarantino/The Associated Press)
Prayers for the Pope
The operation got under way as medical staff recited the Rosary prayer in the hospital chapel Tuesday evening."Let us join together in prayer, asking the Lord to sustain our bishop, Pope Leo, and to comfort all those who are hospitalized here," said the Vicar of Rome, Cardinal Baldassare Reina, at the start of the prayer.
The American pontiff has offered a rare level of transparency about the first publicly disclosed major health problem of his 17-month papacy. He revealed the discovery of the small, localized nodule during his Sunday noon prayer and announced that he would have it removed.
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The surgery will require a weeklong hospital stay, and the Vatican on Monday cancelled all Leo's audiences through Oct. 20.
The pontiff is expected to spend a week in hospital after the operation. (Gregorio Borgia/The Associated Press)
A churchman who saw Leo on Monday, Tokyo Cardinal Kikuchi Tsutomu, said Leo told him he felt fine and decided to have the surgery immediately so that he wouldn't have to alter his upcoming travel plans to Latin America.
But the decision clearly came as a surprise: While Gemelli has a specific papal apartment that past popes have used, complete with a private chapel on the 10th floor, Leo will actually be staying in a nearby room since the papal apartment is currently undergoing renovations, according to the Vatican press office.
Leo, elected by the world's 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 health issues previously.
November trip to South America
EIO advises patients not to fly for three weeks after surgery, which would give the pope just the interval needed to make his planned Nov. 6-17 trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru, depending on his recovery.The current itinerary for the trip is ambitious and the longest of his papacy to date, calling for Leo to clock just over 31,000 kilometres on a dozen flights and two helicopter rides, and a significant altitude change in Peru.
"I think the Holy Father is in excellent hands at Gemelli," Spaggiari said. "They have everything needed to keep the Holy Father alive for a long time."
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Kikuchi, the Tokyo archbishop who is also head of the Vatican's charitable federation Caritas Internationalis, said Leo told him he felt no different than usual and was looking ahead to the trip.
"He has decided to undergo surgery soon in order to not change his plans for future overseas trips, so there is no need to worry, as it is not an emergency," Kikuchi wrote on the Facebook page of the Tokyo archdiocese.
