What Pope Leo’s lung cancer diagnosis reveals about adenocarcinoma and treatment

Study the questions and tasks

Work through the material below, or start the interactive practice above to complete an attempt. Try the exercises before opening any answer or transcript sections, then use them to review your work.

Practice level

C2. Try this level if you can follow the instructions and understand most of the language; choose an earlier level if you need more support.

Question formats

Single choice

How to approach this practice

Read the questions, then listen before opening the transcript. Notice names, numbers and any corrections the speaker makes.

1. Question 1 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What prompted the NPR discussion described in the opening?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. A new smoking ban
   2. Questions about the diagnosis and adenocarcinoma
   3. A dispute between two hospitals
   4. An announcement of completed treatment
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Questions about the diagnosis and adenocarcinoma

   The diagnosis generated questions requiring specialist interpretation.

   Pope Leo’s lung cancer diagnosis has prompted questions about adenocarcinoma, a form of lung cancer that can be difficult to reconcile with popular assumptions about the disease.

2. Question 2 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What professional background did Brawley bring to the interview?

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   1. He was a radiologist at a private clinic
   2. He worked at Johns Hopkins and formerly led medically at ACS
   3. He was Pope Leo’s personal surgeon
   4. He directed a tobacco-research institute
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   He worked at Johns Hopkins and formerly led medically at ACS

   He combined Johns Hopkins work with former national cancer-society leadership.

   Brawley, who works at the Kimmel Center at Johns Hopkins University and previously served for more than a decade as the American Cancer Society’s chief medical and scientific officer, emphasized that adenocarcinoma is not synonymous with smoking-related illness.

3. Question 3 · Single choice

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   What improvement did Brawley say had altered lung cancer’s outlook?

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   1. Improved treatment and detection
   2. Reduced reliance on pathological testing
   3. Universal access to radiation
   4. The elimination of lymph-node assessment
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Improved treatment and detection

   Both treatment and detection had improved considerably.

   Brawley said that treatment and detection have improved considerably, making the outlook dependent on features such as the size of the lesion and whether it has spread to nearby lymph nodes.

4. Question 4 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What was happening to the lymph nodes when the interview discussed them?

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   1. They had been removed completely
   2. They were being assessed
   3. They had tested definitively positive
   4. They had not been located
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   They were being assessed

   They were still undergoing assessment rather than already having a stated result.

   In the circumstances described during the discussion, a very small lesion had been surgically removed, while the lymph nodes were being assessed.

5. Question 5 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What care did Brawley envisage if the nodes were negative?

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   1. Immediate chemotherapy and radiation
   2. Periodic CT observation alone
   3. A second lung removal
   4. Permanent hospitalization
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Periodic CT observation alone

   He anticipated observation with CT scans and no listed adjuvant therapies.

   If those nodes proved negative, Brawley said he would expect the patient to do very well.

6. Question 6 · Single choice

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   What does the limited operation indicate about the patient’s condition?

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   1. The patient cannot tolerate treatment
   2. The disease is certainly incurable
   3. The patient may be fit and the disease contained
   4. The cancer has necessarily spread widely
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   The patient may be fit and the disease contained

   It suggests sufficient health for surgery and possibly contained disease.

   Such surgery indicates that the patient is healthy enough to tolerate the procedure, while the limited nature of the operation may suggest that doctors are addressing a localized problem rather than treating disease that has already advanced extensively.

7. Question 7 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   Which therapies did Brawley specifically say might not be needed?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Surgery, biopsy, and imaging
   2. Chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and radiation
   3. Observation, surgery, and pathology
   4. Consultation, imaging, and anesthesia
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Chemotherapy, immunotherapy, and radiation

   He named three modalities that could be unnecessary after favorable findings.

   He added that continued care might consist only of periodic observation with CT scans, without the need for chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or radiation therapy.

8. Question 8 · Single choice

   Choose one answer.

   What conclusion does the discussion explicitly withhold?

   Return to the passage, recording or visual
   1. Whether adenocarcinoma exists
   2. Whether nonsmokers can develop lung cancer
   3. Pope Leo’s final prognosis
   4. Whether lymph nodes matter clinically
   Check answers and explanations

   Answer

   Pope Leo’s final prognosis

   It refuses to state Pope Leo’s final prognosis.

   The discussion did not present a final prognosis for Pope Leo.

What to review next

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The final suggested time is 5:30. Actually signals a correction; the first time is replaced by the later suggestion.

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