This Sunday, during the Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square, Pope Leo XIV revealed that he was to be operated on a lump in the lung. He said it was something “circumscribed” and that this medical intervention would be necessary. Know what this is about, the risks and the warning signs.
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12/10/2026
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During the Angelus prayer in St. Peter's Square this Sunday, October 11, Pope Leo XIV he revealed to all the faithful that he was going to be operated on a lump in the lung. “I was detected with a circumscribed nodule in my lung. I will be operated in the next days”, he explained. He said the injury was at an early, well-located stage. What's a lump in the lung? Is it always serious? What warning signs should be taken into account?
What's a lump in the lung?
According to cUF health network website, the correct term for this problem is solitary nodule of the lung. On the website they say it is “a solid, rounded lesion with more or less well defined contours, less than three centimeters in diameter and surrounded by normal lung”.
They also mention that on an X-ray “they have the appearance of a little clearer stain on the lung field around them”. Although Pope Leo XIV did not fully mention it, this type of nodule may originate in different pathologies or diseases.
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Causes and symptoms
On the CUF website they explain that it may originate from infections due to bacteria and fungi, scar lesions from old infections, but also benign or malignant tumors at an early stage.
The Cleveland Clinic website indicates that smaller nodules may not present symptoms. However, in some cases it may occur chest pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, hoarse voice, loss of appetite, weight loss and even respiratory infectionslike bronchitis or pneumonia.
Is there always a risk of cancer?
According to Ankit Bharat, chief of surgery at Northwestern Medicine, here quoted by NBC News, the vast majority of these nodules are of benign origin. “When doctors decide to proceed directly to surgery instead of first obtaining a biopsy, this may indicate a higher level of concern in lung imaging” revealed the explicit.
The truth is that a posterior analysis of the nodule removed is that you can tell what type of nodule this is. Ankit Bharat also stated that with the treatments that exist today, the Pope may be discharged a few days after the intervention. Still, it all depends on the size of the node. If it is larger and some lung tissue has to be removed, it may need three to four weeks to fully recover.
“Its importance and severity should be evaluated with determination and persistence by the physician. Sometimes, very small nodules may go unnoticed on conventional radiographs, so it is necessary to request a Computerized axial tomography (TAC), which is much more sensitive to detect the nodules of the lung ", continues the website of the CUF network.
It is only later and with proper examinations that it is possible to understand whether the risk of cancer is real. Smokers always end up at a higher risk. “In cases where the possibility of cancer is remote close clinical surveillance is acceptable. In the rare cases in which the characteristics of the nodule are frankly benign, there may be no need for further investigation, but we should not dispense with their vigilance.”