Former President Joe Biden was diagnosed with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer, according to a statement from his personal office Sunday, and it has spread to his bones.
“Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms. On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone,” the statement said.
It continued, “While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management.”
Biden, 82, and his family “are reviewing treatment options with his physicians,” the statement said.
The news comes days after a spokesperson for Biden said the former president was recently evaluated for a “small nodule” discovered on his prostate.
“Prostate cancer is very common,” said Dr. Jamin Brahmbhatt, a urologist and robotic surgeon with Orlando Health and an assistant professor at the University of Central Florida’s College of Medicine, who is not involved in Biden’s treatment. “As we get older, most men are going to have little cancer cells in them.”
Prostate cancers can be assigned a grade, known as a Gleason score, based on what the cells look like under a microscope. A Gleason score of 9 “means it’s the most aggressive form of prostate cancer,” Dr. Benjamin Davies, a professor of urologic oncology at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center who is also not involved in Biden’s case, said in an email.
Biden faced concerns over health during 2024 race
Concerns about age and health dogged Biden, the oldest president in US history, throughout his time in office and came into sharper focus following his halting debate performance against Donald Trump last June.
In February 2024, Biden underwent a physical at Walter Reed National Military Center overseen by his physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor, who at the time said there were “no new concerns” with the president’s health and he was “fit for duty.”
Tapper and Thompson write that Biden’s aides privately discussed whether they would have to put him in a wheelchair for his second term and that Biden didn’t recognize movie star George Clooney at a June 2024 fundraiser.
Biden has maintained a relatively low profile since leaving the White House but has slowly started to reemerge on the public stage. He appeared alongside his wife, Jill Biden, earlier this month on ABC’s “The View,” where he pushed back on suggestions he experienced cognitive decline in his final year in office.
“They are wrong,” Joe Biden said. “There is nothing to sustain that.”
The former first lady added, “The people who wrote those books weren’t in the White House with us, and they didn’t see how hard Joe worked every single day. He’d get up, he’d put in a full day and then at night, I’d be in bed reading my book, and he was still on the phone, reading his briefings, working with staff.”
Trump has continued to criticize Biden, even after the then-president dropped out of the 2024 race, and to claim Biden suffered from cognitive decline. During Trump’s trip to the Middle East last week, he largely ignored the long-held presidential norms of avoiding criticizing domestic political opponents while traveling abroad, personally attacking his predecessor multiple times. But Trump put his feelings aside Sunday as he expressed well-wishes for the former president.
“Melania and I are saddened to hear about Joe Biden’s recent medical diagnosis. We extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family, and we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery,” he posted on Truth Social.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who took over the Democrats’ campaign after Biden dropped out of the race, also wished the former president a speedy recovery and added that “Joe is a fighter.”
“Doug and I are saddened to learn of President Biden’s prostate cancer diagnosis. We are keeping him, Dr. Biden, and their entire family in our hearts and prayers during this time,” Harris wrote on X. “Joe is a fighter — and I know he will face this challenge with the same strength, resilience, and optimism that have always defined his life and leadership. We are hopeful for a full and speedy recovery.”
Cancer is ‘very serious,’ but there ‘is some good news,’ experts say
Besides the Gleason score, factors such as blood prostate-specific antigen levels, imaging tests and biopsy findings are important in determining how the cancer might behave and what treatment options would be best.
Even patients with high-risk prostate cancer “can live a pretty normal life and have a good quality of life, as long as the cancer is treated,” Brahmbhatt said. That treatment is personalized to each patient and might come in several forms, such as hormone therapy, chemotherapy or radiation.
The fact that Biden’s cancer has spread to the bone “is very serious and not curable,” Davies said. However, “There is some good news here in the newer hormonal and chemotherapy therapies [that have come] into this space in the past few years which have shown impressive results and extended the longevity of patients significantly.”
It could take “a few weeks” to see which direction Biden’s treatment goes, Brahmbhatt said. “Some of the treatments can affect memory, mood, quality of life, so you have to be very careful about what you end up doing, because you don’t want to be overly aggressive.”
Biden’s role in the fight to end cancer
Cancer has long been a personal issue for Biden, whose son Beau, an Iraq War veteran and former Delaware attorney general, died of brain cancer in 2015 at age 46.
In a presidential memorandum in 2016, then-President Barack Obama tapped Biden, his vice president, to lead the White House task force aimed at curing cancer. At the time, Biden pledged that though he was “not naïve about the challenges ahead,” he had “never been more optimistic that we can do big things.”
In 2022, then-President Biden reestablished the program, dubbed the “Cancer Moonshot” initiative, committing the nation to working toward reducing the death rate from cancer by at least 50% over the next 25 years.
“We’re mobilizing the whole country effort to cut American cancer deaths in half by 20, 25 years and boost support for patients and their families. I’m confident in our capacity to do that. I know we can, but it’s not just personal — it’s about what’s possible,” Biden said last August while touting $150 million in new research awards.
Obama and former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton both highlighted Biden’s effort toward ending cancer in their well-wishes.
“I’m thinking of the Bidens as they take on cancer, a disease they’ve done so much to try to spare other families from. Wishing you a speedy, full recovery,” Clinton posted on X.
“Michelle and I are thinking of the entire Biden family,” Obama posted on X. “Nobody has done more to find breakthrough treatments for cancer in all its forms than Joe, and I am certain he will fight this challenge with his trademark resolve and grace. We pray for a fast and full recovery.”
This story has been updated with additional information.