Pope Leo XIV received good news today: The results of the much-awaited histological examination carried out on the malignant tumor taken from the pope’s right lung show that “the disease was localized,” and subsequent “oncological evaluation” confirmed that “no further treatment is necessary.”

The news was broken at 9 p.m. (local time)  Oct. 21, in a statement “regarding the pope’s postoperative recovery” released by the Holy See’s press office and signed by Dr. Stefano Margaritora, the surgeon who operated on the pope, and Dr. Luigi Carbone, the pope’s personal physician.

It said: “Today, the final histological reports and molecular biology test results were released regarding the tissue removed during the Holy Father’s surgery,” and “The results confirmed that the tumor was a pulmonary adenocarcinoma and that the disease was localized.”

The doctors stated that “a subsequent oncological evaluation confirmed that no further treatment is necessary.”

These test results come from the mass that was removed during the surgery. While the doctors were able to say the pope’s nodule was lung adenocarcinoma after an initial test during the surgery, the mass they removed was then sent for a full biopsy, which generally takes about a week to 10 days. They also say they conducted a subsequent oncological examination.

Asked for a comment on this, Dr. Anna Lisa Bilotta, who works at Salvator Mundi International Hospital in Rome, said: “The histological results reveal that the doctors removed the cancer in an early stage. They immediately identified that the small nodule was cancerous and removed it. This was very important. This is a good result. It was cancer, but it has been removed, and so there is no need for further therapy, except for periodic checkups.” She concluded that the pope could likely move ahead with his scheduled trip to Latin America Nov. 6-17, as Dr. Margaritora said in the interview with Vatican Media,

The Vatican has not yet confirmed that the pope will travel, even though all the preparations have been made for this.

Gerard O’Connell is America’s senior Vatican correspondent and author of The Election of Pope Francis: An Inside Story of the Conclave That Changed History. He has been covering the Vatican since 1985.