Joe Biden begins cancer treatment after prostate disease spreads to bones
Joe Biden, former United States president has begun radiation therapy as part of treatment for prostate cancer, his office confirmed on Saturday.
Biden, 82, was diagnosed in May with what doctors described as an “aggressive” form of the disease that had already spread to his bones. The diagnosis followed medical tests after he reported urinary symptoms earlier in the year.
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Kelly Scully, his media aide, said the former president is “undergoing radiation therapy and hormone treatment as part of a comprehensive plan for prostate cancer care.” The radiation therapy is expected to last about five weeks, according to reports by NBC News.
In May, Biden’s office revealed that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer “characterised by a Gleason score of nine (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone.” A Gleason score of nine indicates a high-grade form of cancer, meaning the cells are more likely to grow and spread quickly.
Despite the seriousness of the diagnosis, doctors noted that Biden’s cancer is hormone-sensitive—meaning it can respond well to hormone therapy designed to slow its growth.
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Prostate cancer is one of the most common cancers among men, particularly older men. According to the American Cancer Society, about one in eight men will develop prostate cancer during their lifetime, while the US Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimates that 13 out of every 100 men will be diagnosed at some point.
Biden’s medical history includes several other health challenges in recent years. Last month, he underwent Mohs surgery to remove cancerous cells from his skin. In February 2023, doctors removed a small lesion from his chest that was identified as basal cell carcinoma—a common and typically non-aggressive form of skin cancer.
Earlier, in 2021, he had a benign but potentially pre-cancerous polyp removed from his colon.
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The former president, who turns 83 next month, left office in January as the oldest person ever to serve as US president. Concerns about his health and age were a recurring issue during his first term,
eventually prompting him to end his re-election campaign earlier this year. His former vice-president, Kamala Harris, went on to represent the Democratic Party in the presidential race but lost to Donald Trump, the current US president.
Biden has long made cancer research one of his defining causes. In 2022, he and his wife, Jill Biden, relaunched the “Cancer Moonshot” initiative, an ambitious programme aimed at cutting the cancer death rate in half over 25 years and preventing more than four million deaths by 2047.
His commitment to the cause is deeply personal. In 2015, Biden lost his eldest son, Beau Biden, to brain cancer—a tragedy that profoundly shaped his outlook on public service and medical research.
Speaking shortly after his own diagnosis earlier this year, Biden reflected on the shared experience of illness, saying, “Cancer touches us all.”
In recent months, the former president has kept a low public profile as he continues treatment and recovery.
Prostate cancer primarily affects older men, with research suggesting that up to 80 percent of men over the age of 80 may have cancerous cells in the prostate gland—though many cases remain slow-growing and harmless.
Medical experts stress that early detection and access to advanced treatment options like radiation and hormone therapy can significantly improve outcomes, even in high-grade cases like Biden’s.
While the coming weeks of treatment will likely be demanding, doctors say the combination of radiation and hormone therapy remains a proven, effective approach for managing prostate cancer, especially when caught before it becomes resistant to treatment.
