A Northwestern Medicine lung expert says there are signs that Pope Leo’s lung cancer was early stage, pending further tests.
“From what I’ve heard, [we have] very good odds of this being a curative surgery and the Pope not having to need any additional treatment down the road,” said Dr. Kalvin Lung.
A board-certified thoracic surgeon, Lung has performed hundreds of surgeries similar to Pope Leo’s.
He joined “The Takeaway with Alex Maragos” podcast to explain the surgery, the diagnosis and the prognosis for the 71-year-old Pope.
The Vatican announced that Pope Leo was diagnosed with pulmonary adenocarcinoma following the surgery on Tuesday afternoon.
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“When a patient can have surgery, it generally means that we can try to cure the cancer,” Lung said. “Otherwise, we wouldn’t put the patient through the harms, risks and recovery period of a big surgery.”
Lung said it’s likely that approximately one-fifth to one quarter of the Pope’s right lung was removed.
“If we start off with pretty good lung capacity…most patients don’t actually feel it,” Lung said.
The Pope’s surgery likely did three things, according to Lung: removed the tumor, removed the part of the lung that contained the tumor and removed the lymph nodes surrounding that part of the lung.
Lung said further tests will determine the severity of the cancer and possible mutations.
“If it comes back as just Stage 1, that’s fantastic,” Lung said.
According to Lung, the five-year survival rate for Stage 1 pulmonary adenocarcinoma is 70 percent to 90 percent, depending on the size of the tumor.
“When I see adenocarcinoma…it is a type of lung cancer [that we can] treat, and hopefully cure, pretty readily if it hasn’t spread to different places,” Lung said.
The Vatican press office said Wednesday that Pope Leo continues to recover well from the surgery, and is already walking around the hospital and eating normally.
Lung said he has many patients around the Pope’s age who are able to resume their normal lives after similar surgery and diagnoses.
“Day to day life and carrying out his papal duties and traveling, [the surgery] shouldn’t really cause any differences in the way he can breathe,” Lung said.
If the cancer has spread to lymph nodes or other parts of the body, Lung said the Pope’s doctors will proceed with chemotherapy or immunotherapy.
“We test all these adenocarcinomas for mutations so we know, can we give them this drug if the cancer is advanced stage?” Lung said.
Pending further tests and monitoring, Lung said the Pope has a very good chance of living a healthy normal life.
“I have good feelings and good hopes for the Pope,” Lung said. “I think he’s going to do just fine.”
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