{"id":94567,"date":"2026-10-15T09:52:58","date_gmt":"2026-10-15T15:52:58","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/?p=94567"},"modified":"2026-10-15T09:52:58","modified_gmt":"2026-10-15T15:52:58","slug":"pope-leo-lung-cancer-expert-explains-prognosis","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uchealth.org\/today\/pope-leo-lung-cancer-expert-explains-prognosis\/","title":{"rendered":"Colorado lung cancer expert: Pope Leo’s early diagnosis and surgery a hopeful sign for his recovery"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Pope Leo shared that he has pulmonary adenocarcinoma, the most common type of lung cancer. Early detection and surgery bode well for the pope’s recovery. Photo courtesy of Vatican Media.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Early medical intervention to remove a nodular lesion from Pope Leo XIV\u2019s right lung on Tuesday is a hopeful sign that the pontiff could make a full recovery, according to renowned global lung cancer expert\u00a0Dr. Ross Camidge<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

Doctors diagnosed the 71-year-old Chicago-born pope with pulmonary adenocarcinoma, a cancer that affects both smokers and non-smokers alike. Pope Leo is not known to have ever been a smoker.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s the most common form of lung cancer,\u201d said Camidge, a UCHealth doctor and a professor of medical oncology<\/a> at the University of Colorado Anschutz School of Medicine.<\/a> \u201cTen to 20% of people who get this have no history of smoking, but because it\u2019s so prevalent, that\u2019s still a huge number.\u201d<\/p>\n

Camidge is not one of Pope Leo’s doctors and is not advising medical experts about the pope’s treatments.<\/p>\n

Camidge is, however, a renowned global lung cancer expert who provides much-sought-after second opinions for oncology cases throughout the U.S. and around the world, participating in online consultations with doctors and patients where he shares his expertise and experience. Camidge is also the director of the University of Colorado Thoracic Oncology Program.<\/a><\/p>\n

In a sad irony, Camidge himself is now facing lung cancer.\u00a0<\/a><\/p>\n

\"Dr.
Dr. Ross Camidge is a renowed lung cancer expert. In a cruel irony, Camidge is now coping with lung cancer himself. Photo courtesy of University of Colorado Anschutz.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Lung cancer is one of the most common types of cancer<\/strong><\/h2>\n

As one of the most common cancers, lung cancer is a global health crisis and one of the deadliest \u2014 killing more people than breast cancer, prostate cancer, bowel cancer and pancreatic cancer combined.<\/p>\n

But many patients are experiencing better outcomes and higher survival rates<\/a> through clinical trials that include breakthrough treatments, in addition to standard protocols such as surgery, chemotherapy and radiation.<\/p>\n

\u201cMore information could be coming out from the Italian doctors through the Vatican in the following days, but the hope is they caught it in the earliest stage and if so, he would need no other treatment,\u201d Camidge said.<\/p>\n

According to the Vatican statement,<\/a> the \u201cpope\u2019s lower lobe of the right lung was removed using a video-assisted technique. Intraoperative histological examination confirmed the diagnosis of pulmonary adenocarcinoma, as suspected from pre-operative tests.”<\/p>\n