Pope Leo

Pope Leo XIV was recovering Wednesday, a day after having a lobe of his right lung removed and confirming a diagnosis of lung cancer.

The surgery removed what the pope and Vatican described as a localized nodular lesion.

But the Vatican has not shared the stage of cancer, or whether it has spread, which would help determine if Leo needs further treatment.

"It's very common and also generally a very good prognosis when found early on," Dr. Kalvin Lung, a thoracic surgeon at the Northwestern Medicine Canning Thoracic Institute, told CBS News 24/7 on Tuesday.

But the information that has been provided suggests the cancer may have been caught early.

"The fact that he can have a successful surgery so quickly is all a very good prognosticators of probably an early-stage lung cancer," Lung said.

"But the fact they went right in and tried to take it all out might say to you, well, they think maybe that's it," he said.

"Sometimes it looks like on all the tests beforehand that it's just localized, and it turns out the lymph nodes are involved," LaPook said.

"There are all these special tests you do. Look at the genetic makeup of it. Are there any special markers? Are there any special things on it that are driving it to multiply?" LaPook said.

Doctors have said the recovery from the surgery is typically a few weeks. He is expected to stay at the hospital for a week, according to the Vatican.

"I think he'll be back to doing what he wants to do around three to four weeks," said Dr. David Jones, chief of thoracic surgery at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. "Maybe a little slower, but he'll be fine."

Pope Leo to undergo surgery after nodular lesion found in lung, Vatican says