Vatican confirms Pope Leo’s cancer diagnosis after successful surgery

The Vatican has confirmed Pope Leo XIV is diagnosed with lung cancer

and doctors have successfully performed surgery.

The pontiff will remain at the hospital in Rome for a week as he recovers

from the operation.

Pope Leo XIV walked into the Gemelli hospital in Rome early Tuesday amid a

large group of well-wishers to remove what doctors had suspected was a

lung nodule.

Many had gathered at the hospital chapel to pray for the pontiff.

The American pope had offered a rare level of transparency about his

health during his Sunday noon prayer, sharing doctors

had discovered the small, localised nodule and had recommended

surgical removal.

The 90-minute operation confirmed

the 71-year-old's lung cancer diagnosis.

A statement from the church detailed doctors had removed

the lower lobe of Leo's right lung and the adenocarcinoma

diagnosis had been suspected by preoperative tests.

The Vatican said a medical bulletin that mentioned "radical" removal

of the lobe was an indication that doctors removed all

suspect tissue in hopes of removing any lingering traces of the cancer.

The Holy See said he has spent a "tranquil night" at the hospital after

the procedure but made no mention of treatment going forward.

The statement furthered doctors were not currently speaking of

chemotherapy or other therapies pending the results of other tests.

An oncologist familiar with the Gemelli hospital team

operating on the pope said it was likely a robotic bronchoscopy

was performed using the da Vinci robot.

The technology allows doctors to perform a biopsy and immediately analyzes

the sample, and if positive, then go ahead with the necessary surgical

procedure right away.

He says the technology was built for NASA and the robotic-arm-controlled

3D cameras have been adopted by various medical fields,

and has allowed what he calls an adoption of "artificial intelligence"

that offers "processing of the pope's lungs" and diagnosis with

precision like never before.

Leo will spend a week in the hospital to recover, with public

engagements cancelled through October 20.