Post

Vince
@jva.bsky.social

Also, the "low risk" refers to the risk associated with the surgery, not the cancer itself, and the expert quoted is not involved in the Pope's care

George Pearkes
@peark.es

FWIW 5y survival rates for all lung cancers roughly doubled from the 1990s through the most recent cohorts (from ~15% to 28%). And given the speed of progress in recent years plus uncertainty about what stage the disease could be in, no reason to assume Leo is a goner near-term.

WhimsicalSquirrel
@whimsicalsquirrel.bsky.social

Got a relative who was diagnosed with Stage 4 lung cancer around 6 or 7 years ago, after already having Breast cancer, and she was/is very unhealthy in general on top of that and she's still kickin' so, I would imagine Pope-level healthcare could beat that prognosis.

Elana Levin
@levin.bsky.social

Yeah my friend had stage four lung (she’s young and never smoked and so no one thought to check her for lung cancer). It was brutal treatment but shes been in total remission for a long time now.

NaciFan
@nacifan.bsky.social

My dad and father in law both died very quickly of lung cancer, but two of their friends have lived decades after diagnosis. All depends if metastatic or not. Praying for him that it’s not.

Conrado 🇺🇦 🇵🇷
@caa4esq.bsky.social

Apparently the mass was detected relatively early and for most patients with early detection, prognosis is pretty good. Assuming he doesn't have any major comorbidities, he should be fine for a 5yr survival rate. The Vatican has experience with lung-limited popes (Francis had one and a half lungs!)

Mo
@moman.bsky.social

My dad had very early lung cancer and a lobectomy back in 2018 and he’s still alive and kicking

Nater
@naterpnw.bsky.social

Obviously different cancer, but my uncle had stage 4 esophageal cancer and it looks like he’s now in remission. Cancer treatment has gotten much much better and even stage 4 is no longer a death sentence

Kane (Minkmoding)
@kanexan.bsky.social

I think it’s more like “had”, it sounds like they suspected it was possible, then confirmed and removed it during surgery, and they think it will be ok because they caught it pretty early.

FEARsten
@k-a-aitch.bsky.social

Non-smokers can also get lung cancer, and AFAIK there's no indication Pope Leo ever smoked. But even if so, everyone with a cancer diagnosis deserves compassion and dedicated medical care.