Pope Leo XIV spent a peaceful night in Rome’s Gemelli hospital after doctors removed the lower lobe of his right lung and confirmed he has cancer, the Vatican said Wednesday.

The surgery confirmed that the pope has the most common type of lung cancer, known as lung adenocarcinoma, the Vatican said in a medical bulletin late Tuesday.

The Vatican said doctors were waiting for the results of further tests before deciding on a course of treatment. The press office pointed to the medical statement’s mention of the “radical” removal of the lobe as an indication that doctors took out all suspect tissue in hopes of removing any lingering traces of the cancer.

Experts said some of Leo’s lymph nodes also would have been removed and tested to determine if the cancer had spread. There was no word yet on those test results.

If the cancer has spread, more tests will be needed to determine what kind of therapy to pursue, said Dr. Stephen Liu, a lung cancer expert at Georgetown’s Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center. Options include chemotherapy, a combination of chemotherapy and immunotherapy or targeted therapy, which involves oral pills for specific cancers.
For now, the implications for the pope’s long-term health remain unclear. The Vatican said more information would be provided later in the day.

The American pontiff has offered a rare level of transparency about the first publicly disclosed major health problem of his 17-month papacy. He revealed the discovery of the nodule, or growth, on his lung during his Sunday noon prayer.