What we know about Pope Leo XIV's lung cancer operation

Pope Leo XIV had a cancerous tumour surgically removed from his right lung on Tuesday in a 90-minute operation described as “ successful ” by the Vatican. Here are what several medical experts told AFP about the surgery and diagnosis. What is pulmonary adenocarcinoma? Pulmonary adenocarcinoma, the type of tumour removed from the Pope, generally comes from “a primary cancer,” said Dr. Juanita Mora, a medical spokesperson for the American Lung Association. She told AFP that “is a good thing” because it means the tumour is from lung cancer instead of generating from the spread of another cancer. There are two main types of lung cancer: “small cell” cancers, which spread aggressively and make up about 10 to 15 per cent of diagnoses, and “non-small cell” cancers, which make up the vast majority.

“Adenocarcinoma is the most common kind of what’s called non-small cell lung cancer,” David Spigel, a medical oncologist specialising in lung cancer research at Nashville’s Sarah Cannon Research Institute, told AFP . Promising outlook David Carbone, director of the Oncology Center at Ohio State University, noted that while smoking is the most well-known risk factor for a lung cancer diagnosis, “most lung cancers that we diagnose today are in people who haven’t smoked, or (stopped) many years ago. ” Lung cancer is the top cause of cancer death worldwide, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), but the prognosis can vary significantly depending on the type of lung cancer and how advanced it is when first detected. “When we look at five-year survival rate from lung adenocarcinoma, and it’s nicely localised, the rate is approximately 63 to 67pc,” Mora said. “But if we catch it early, it becomes 80 to 98pc, especially after surgical removal. ” In such a case, the patient “will…