What to Know About Pope Leo’s Lung Surgery for Early-Stage Nodule

Pope Leo XIV announced Sunday that he will undergo surgery this week to remove an early-stage nodule on his lung.

The Vatican did not specify what type of lung surgery the pontiff would undergo, but that the “small localized nodule” was discovered in his lung during recent medical examinations.

A lung nodule is a small mass of tissue detected by X-ray or CT scan. According to American Lung Cancer, nodules can be caused by a number of factors, including irritants such as air pollution, diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and cancer. They can also be caused by scar tissue from a previous infection.

Leo said the nodule was detected “at a very early stage”.

There are several surgical approaches, depending on the size and location of the nodule and whether doctors suspect cancer, said Dr. Ankit Bharat, chief of thoracic surgery at Northwestern Medicine.

Most of the nodules are benign and it is unclear whether Pope underwent a biopsy after the tests.

“When doctors decide to proceed directly to surgery rather than first obtaining a biopsy, this may suggest a higher level of concern regarding lung scans,” Bharat said.

Lung cancer is more treatable if detected early. This deadly cancer is most often caused by smoking, but about 20 percent of lung cancer cases are diagnosed in people who have never smoked or used tobacco, according to the American Cancer Society.

However, finding a nodule during a CT scan does not confirm a cancer diagnosis, Bharat said, and the operation will reveal more information as doctors are able to place the nodule under a microscope.

Advances in procedures mean they are generally less invasive and some patients start walking within a day or two.

Vatican spokesman Matteo Bruni said in a statement on Sunday that “the operation is planned for the first days of this week and the estimated postoperative recovery time will be around a week.”

If the nodule is larger and more lung tissue is removed, meaning the surgery is more extensive, it may take three to four weeks before a patient makes a full recovery.

“Given the pope’s age, his recovery may be slower than that of a younger and otherwise healthy patient,” Bharat said. Leo is 71 years old.

The pontiff has planned a major trip to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru in November. He may make the trip, doctors suggest, if the operation is minimally invasive and there are no surprising results. If the nodule is cancerous, doctors will determine whether it can be treated during the trip or whether the trip will need to be postponed.