Pope Leo diagnosed with cancer

Pope Leo XIV, 71, has been diagnosed with lung cancer after doctors removed a part of his right lung during an operation

Lower lobe of right lung removed


Right lung
Middle lobe
Superior lobe
Superior lobe
Inferior lobe
Trachea
Left lung

LUNG ADENOCARCINOMA

What is it?: Lung cancer starting in mucus-producing, glandular cells. About 40% of lung cancers

Patients: Most common in adults aged 70 and older. Usually current or past smokers, but one in seven patients never smoked. Other causes include genetic mutations. Pope Leo not known to be smoker

Treatment: For Stage 1, surgery alone may be enough. For later stages prognosis worsens. Treatment depends on tumour makeup: targeted pills for some, chemotherapy or immunotherapy for others

Papal Suite: Pope Leo staying in secure, 200 sq m apartment on top floor of Rome’s Gemelli Hospital (below)

Guarded by Italian State Police, Vatican Gendarmerie and hospital security, it includes small chapel and kitchen

2km
1.2 miles

River Tiber

Colosseum

Vatican City

Gemelli Hospital

ROME

Sources: Vatican, CDC, Reuters, BBC
Pictures: Getty Images
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