Pope Leo diagnosed with cancer after surgery to remove part of lung, Vatican says

Pope Leo leads the Angelus prayer from the window of the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican,October 11,

(Credits: via REUTERS)

Pope Leo has had surgery to remove part of his lung when it was discovered he had cancer,the Vatican has said.

The 71-year-old had a successful 90-minute surgery to take out the lower lobe of his right lung and was diagnosed with lung adenocarcinoma.

‘The surgery was successful,and there were no complications,’ the statement the Vatican said.

‘After the operation,the Pope awoke normally and returned after a brief period of observation to his room on the 10th floor,’ the Vatican said in a statement.

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.

‘Adenocarcinoma is the most common (type of lung cancer),also with the most favourable prognosis,’ said Dr Stephen Liu,a lung cancer expert at Georgetown’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Centre.

‘While we know the diagnosis we now need to know the stage.’

‘We now need to know how big it is,how many spots in the lung are involved. Is it just one nodule,or more than one,and the lymph nodes,are they cancerous?’ Liu said.

If the cancer has spread,more tests will be needed to determine what kind of therapy to pursue,he said. Options include chemotherapy,a combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy or targeted therapy,which involves oral pills for specific cancers.