Former President Joseph R. Biden Jr. was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that spread to the bone on Friday, his office said in a statement Sunday.
The diagnosis came after Biden reported urinary symptoms, leading doctors to find “small nodules” in his prostate. Biden's cancer is a “characteristic of a Gleason score 9” with “metastasis to the bone,” the statement said.
The Gleason score is used to describe how prostate cancer looks under a microscope. 9 and 10 are the most aggressive. The cancer has spread because it is stage 4.
“This represents a more aggressive form of disease, but cancer appears to be hormone sensitivity that allows for effective management,” Biden's office's statement had not signed. “The president and his family are reviewing treatment options with his doctor.”
Biden, 82, resigned in January as the oldest president in American history. Throughout the presidency, Biden faced questions about his age and his health, and ultimately led him to abandon his reelection campaign under pressure from his own party.
Prostate cancer experts say Biden's diagnosis is serious and when the cancer spreads to the bone, it tends to go – it cannot be cured. But Dr. Judd Mull, a prostate cancer expert at Duke University, said that men with spreading prostate cancer can “live five, seven, ten or more.”
The first line of attack is to block testosterone that is supplied to prostate cancer. Dr. Muru said when he began as a urologist in the 1980s, this was done by removing the male test circle. Today, men choose two drugs given by injection that prevents them from making testosterone or pills that do the same thing. Additionally, men are taking medications that block testosterone, which they manage to make, despite drugs that inhibit their production.
Dr. Moul said he regularly watches similar prostate cancer diagnosis in men. “The survival rate has almost tripled over the past decade,” he said.
President Trump has repeatedly beaten Biden and blamed most of the country's problems, but was among those who issued a supportive statement on Sunday evening.
“Melania and I are saddened to hear about Joe Biden's recent medical diagnosis,” Trump wrote on social media. “We will spread the warmest and best wishes to Jill and his family. We hope Joe has a quick and successful recovery.”
Kamala Harris, the former vice president who served with Biden, said she and her husband were “sad” to learn about the former president's diagnosis.
“Joe is a fighter, and I know he will face this challenge with the same strength, resilience and optimism that has always defined his life and leadership,” she wrote on social media. “We look forward to a complete and quick recovery.”
Since leaving office, Biden has maintained something largely unremarkable, spending most of his time in Delaware, going to Washington to meet staff to plan his post-presidential life. Prior to Trump's 100-day mark and the release of a book on his presidency and the 2024 campaign, Biden joined an interview to oppose the allegations he is suffering from mental decline.
“They're wrong,” Biden said in an interview about his “view.” “There's nothing to keep it.”
He also said he could have beaten Trump if he hadn't dropped out of the race.
Still, many major Democrats were forced to consider their solid support for Biden's reelection campaign before the disastrous debate last June. After he dropped out, Biden supported Harris, who lost to Trump.
Adding fuel to the fire was an audio release from Biden's 2023 interview this weekend. Axios released a full five-hour tape ahead of the Trump administration's plans this week. And it makes clear that Biden's suspension voice and his difficulties provide dates and details.
Hur ultimately refused to recommend accusations against Biden. Because he said the ju-search said the president was “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly, elderly man.”
In February 2024, when Biden was still president, his longtime doctor declared he “deserves to serve” after receiving physical physics at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
Biden and his family have faced many health challenges throughout their lives. In 1988, Biden fought two cerebral aneurysms that threatened to end his political career. His son Bo passed away in 2015 From glioblastoma, an aggressive form of brain tumors.
When asked shortly before Biden took office in January, he said he didn't know if he was energized to serve for another four years.
“Who knows? So far, it's really good,” he said in an interview with USA Today. “But who knows what I will be when I'm 86?”
