Doctors found that the growth on a kidney removed from conductor James Levine was cancerous, but, fortunately, the malignancy had not spread and the maestro was expected to recover completely, according to a statement released on Tuesday by the Boston Symphony Orchestra.

Last week, a group of doctors in New York performed a surgery in order to remove James Levine’s right kidney, after they discovered what initially was believed to be a cyst. Furthermore, the growth had been causing the 65-year-old music director of the Boston Symphony Orchestra and the Metropolitan Opera, strain and serious pain. However, Mr. Levine was released from the unnamed New York hospital over the weekend.

The orchestra cited the conductor’s brother, Tom Levine, as saying that although the growth was cancerous, it was “very small and confined.” Moreover, he added that the tumor had not spread, since it had been detected in an early stage, and that no supplementary treatment was necessary.

Surgery is the standard treatment for early stage kidney cancer that has not expanded beyond the organ. Additional surgery, treatment with targeted therapies or immunotherapy could be taken into account in cases of cancers that reappear after initial surgery, the American Cancer Society says on its Web site.

The maestro has had some other health difficulties in the past years. He suffers from sciatica, and two years ago he injured his right rotator cuff when he fell on the stage of Boston’s Symphony Hall during the spectator’s applauses following the orchestra’s performance.

At the Boston Symphony Mr. Levine is due to direct 12 programs during the next season, which commences on September 24. Focal points include a concert version of Verdi’s “Simon Boccanegra,” the debut of Elliott Carter’s Interventions for piano and orchestra and a February agenda of Mozart arias accompanied by the soprano Barbara Frittoli.