教宗发现肺结节将接受手术，医学专家解读风险

71岁的教宗利奥在常规检查中被发现患有肺结节，将在近期接受手术移除1。肺结节是指肺部直径不超过3厘米的圆形或椭圆形病灶1，在普通人群中较为常见。根据荷兰北部一项针对非吸烟者的研究，37.7%的女性和47.5%的男性至少存在一个肺结节1，美国胸部CT扫描中的检出率也达到31%1。

约95%的肺结节属于良性病变1，仅有3.7%-5.5%的肺结节可能代表肺癌的早期阶段1。即使诊断为早期非小细胞肺癌，手术治疗的预后相对良好——患者在术后前4年的复发风险为6%-10%，之后每年复发风险降至2%1。相比之下，普通人群的年度肺癌发病风险仅为0.055%（每10万人中55例）1。尽管肺癌是澳大利亚最致命的癌症形式1，但早期发现和及时手术干预能显著改善患者的生存预后。

Pope Leo, aged 71, has been found to have a lung nodule during a routine examination and will undergo surgery in the coming days to have it removed 1. Lung nodules are small growths in the lungs that are detected through imaging scans, with studies showing they are relatively common findings. Research from a non-smoking population in the northern Netherlands found that 37.7 percent of women and 47.5 percent of men had at least one lung nodule 1. Similarly, chest CT scans in the United States detect lung nodules in approximately 31 percent of cases 1.

The discovery of a lung nodule does not necessarily indicate cancer. Approximately 95 percent of lung nodules are benign 1, with only 3.7 to 5.5 percent potentially representing an early stage of lung cancer 1. For patients who do have early-stage non-small cell lung cancer and undergo surgery, the risk of recurrence is 6 to 10 percent within the first four years following the procedure, declining to approximately 2 percent annually thereafter 1. In comparison, the general population faces an annual lung cancer risk of 0.055 percent, equivalent to 55 cases per 100,000 people 1.