Former US President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with advanced prostate cancer that has spread to his bones, according to a statement from his office on Sunday.
The 82-year-old was diagnosed last Friday after visiting a doctor the previous week due to urinary symptoms. Medical assessments revealed an aggressive form of the disease with a Gleason score of 9 out of 10, indicating high-grade cancer with the potential to spread rapidly.
Biden’s team says the cancer is hormone-sensitive and treatment options are being considered. Hormone therapy is expected to play a key role in managing the disease.
The announcement drew bipartisan support. President Donald Trump, writing on his platform Truth Social, expressed sympathy on behalf of himself and First Lady Melania Trump, extending well wishes to the Biden family. Former Vice-President Kamala Harris also offered support, describing Biden as a fighter and expressing confidence in his resilience.
Biden’s diagnosis comes nearly a year after he withdrew from the 2024 presidential race amid concerns about his health and age, following a widely criticized debate performance. He was later replaced as the Democratic nominee by Kamala Harris.
Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among men after skin cancer, and the risk increases with age. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that 13 in every 100 men will develop prostate cancer during their lifetime.
Dr William Dahut, Chief Scientific Officer at the American Cancer Society, noted that while cancer that has spread to the bones is not typically considered curable, many patients respond well to treatment and can live for years.
Since leaving office, Biden has kept a low public profile. He delivered a speech in April at a Chicago conference for disability advocates and gave an interview to the BBC in May, where he reflected on his decision to step away from the 2024 race. He also denied reports of cognitive decline during his final year in office.
Cancer advocacy has been a longstanding cause for Biden. In 2022, he and his wife Jill Biden relaunched the Cancer Moonshot initiative to help prevent over four million cancer-related deaths by 2047. The former president lost his son Beau to brain cancer in 2015.
