Pope does not need further treatment after lung cancer surgery

Pope Leo XIV does not need any further treatment following an operation to remove a cancerous growth from his lung, his doctors have said.

Test results on tissue removed during surgery confirmed he had had a lung adenocarcinoma, as was initially diagnosed, and that the disease was localised, according to a statement shared by the Vatican.

“A subsequent oncological assessment has confirmed that no further treatment is necessary,” it added.

The 71-year-old was discharged from Rome’s Gemelli Hospital over the weekend four days after his operation – stopping to speak to well-wishers as he left the grounds.

It comes as he held his first weekly general audience since leaving hospital at St Peter’s Square on Wednesday.

The surgery, which took place on 13 October and lasted for 90 minutes, included the removal of the lower lobe of the Pope’s right lung.

The pontiff himself had announced during his weekly Sunday prayers that he would be having the procedure – telling those gathered in St Peter’s Square that doctors had found a nodule on his lung.

He said at the time that it had been caught “at an early stage”.

Images shared days after his operation, on Friday, showed the Pope celebrating Mass from the hospital wearing green vestments and standing behind a makeshift altar.

On the same day, the Vatican said he spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin over the phone to urge a ceasefire in the blockaded Russian-occupied Ukrainian city of Oleshky to allow the delivery of food aid, and to call for “dialogue and peace”.

The pontiff had a similar phone call with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on Monday.

Those close to the Pope have also previously said he was keen not to delay a trip to Latin America which is planned for early November.