Pope Leo XIV has lung cancer, even though he never smoked. His diagnosis has started a wider discussion about who gets lung cancer and who gets screened for it.
The common picture of a lung cancer patient is an older man who smokes. That picture no longer matches reality. Over the past 15 years, more women, never smokers and younger people are being diagnosed with the disease.
Pope Leo XIV Lung Cancer Diagnosis Raises Screening Questions
The Pope's case matters because he belongs to a group that screening programs usually skip. Lung cancer screening only targets people who did smoke. That means never smokers like Pope Leo XIV are not covered by existing screening criteria.
This is the gap his diagnosis puts in the spotlight. If screening only looks at people with a smoking history, then never smokers are found only when symptoms appear — often at a later stage.
Lung Cancer in Never Smokers: The Numbers Behind the Shift
The change in who gets lung cancer is not a small one. Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among women. More women die from lung cancer than from breast, ovarian and colorectal cancer each year.
The American Lung Association reports that lung cancer rates rose by 79% for women over the last 44 years. Over the same period, rates decreased by 43% for men. And for the first time in history, there are more young women than men diagnosed with lung cancer.
- Lung cancer is the leading cause of cancer death among women
- More women die from lung cancer than breast, ovarian and colorectal cancer each year
- Rates rose 79% for women over 44 years, while falling 43% for men
- More young women than men are now diagnosed with lung cancer for the first time
- Screening only targets people who did smoke, leaving never smokers uncovered
Why Never Smokers Are Left Out of Lung Cancer Screening
Screening programs are built around risk factors, and smoking is the biggest one. People who never smoked are not included in that criteria. So a never smoker with lung cancer is usually diagnosed after symptoms show up, not through a routine scan.
Pope Leo XIV's diagnosis makes this concrete. A patient can do everything "right" by never smoking and still get lung cancer. When that happens, the screening system has no routine path to catch it early.
Our Take: The Face of Lung Cancer Has Changed
In our view, the Pope's diagnosis is a reminder that the public image of lung cancer is outdated. The disease is not only a smoker's disease anymore. More women, more never smokers and more young people are getting it, and the numbers show this clearly.
To put it plainly, screening rules that only look at smoking history are behind the reality. They leave out a growing group of patients. That does not mean everyone should rush to get scanned. It means the criteria should be reviewed so never smokers are not automatically excluded.
For readers, the message is simple. If you or someone you know has persistent lung symptoms, do not assume lung cancer is impossible just because nobody smoked. The Pope's case shows that assumption is wrong.
