Pope's Surgeon: Tumor Found 'Entirely by Chance'; Leo XIV an 'Ideal Patient,' No Clinical Obstacle to November Latin America Trip

Rome — Professor Stefano Margaritora, the surgeon who operated on Pope Leo XIV, gave an interview to Vatican News after the Pope's discharge in which he described how the cancer was found and how the pontiff behaved as a patient. Margaritora, professor of thoracic surgery at the Catholic University of the Sacred Heart and director of the thoracic surgery unit at Rome's Gemelli Hospital, removed the lower lobe of the Pope's right lung on October 13.

The lung adenocarcinoma was discovered "entirely by chance," he said. During routine abdominal examinations, a small spot was seen at the base of the right lung, visible because the lower part of the lungs appears at the top of abdominal scans. "This is fairly normal because, when radiological examinations of the abdomen are performed, the lower part of the lungs is usually visible, since the diaphragm is shaped somewhat like a parachute," he explained. "However, if this small spot had been a little higher up, it certainly would not have been seen." The Pope "had no respiratory symptoms and felt perfectly well," he said. Leo XIV had announced the operation himself at the end of his Sunday noon blessing on October 11 in St. Peter's Square, saying a "localized nodule" would be removed; tests during surgery confirmed lung adenocarcinoma, the most common form of lung cancer. The operation removed the entire lower lobe of the right lung and proceeded "without any complications."

Margaritora called the Pope "an ideal patient": he entered the operating room smiling and relaxed, and on the second day after surgery the nursing staff found him arranging the chairs in his hospital chapel himself. "Holy Father, we can do that," the doctor recounted saying; Leo replied: "It doesn't matter, I can do it, so I will." The Pope rarely complained of pain and diligently followed his physiotherapy and diet, the surgeon said, adding that he had "put his heart and soul" into his recovery.

At discharge, the Pope "was in entirely satisfactory clinical condition," with completely normal blood test results and fine heart function, and the lung's re-expansion proceeding on the usual timetable. Margaritora said he expected Leo to be fully recovered within "10 days or so," and on the apostolic journey to Uruguay, Argentina and Peru scheduled for November 6–17 he said: "I would say there are no clinical reasons why this visit should not take place."

The surgeon also used the interview to stress the importance of prevention and regular checkups, noting that the Pope falls into the category of people who discover they have lung cancer entirely by

chance, during examinations carried out for other reasons, and that early-stage lung cancer often produces no symptoms.

Source: GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)

Photo: 图：罗马杰梅利医院外景，教宗良十四世在此接受手术并住院。照片：Blackcat，CC BY-SA 3.0 it，经 Wikimedia Commons。Photo: the Agostino Gemelli University Hospital in Rome, where Pope Leo XIV underwent surgery. Photo by Blackcat, CC BY-SA 3.0 it, via Wikimedia Commons.

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