Joe Biden diagnosed with prostate cancer: How serious is he?

He lost his son, Beau, to cancer in 2015 — a loss so great that he has repeatedly spoken about it over the years. Now, 10 years later, former United States President Joe Biden, 82, has revealed that he is fighting his own battle with cancer — an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones.

The 82-year-old’s office said in a statement, “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, characterised by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone. While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management.

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“The president and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”

Soon after the news broke of Biden’s diagnosis, the former US president received support from politicians across party lines. US President Donald Trump wrote on his social media platform Truth Social that he and First Lady Melania Trump “are saddened to hear about Joe Biden’s recent medical diagnosis”.

Meanwhile, Biden’s former boss, Barack Obama, said that Joe Biden will fight cancer “with his trademark resolve and grace”. Kamala Harris, who served as Biden’s vice president, also said that she was “saddened” to learn of the diagnosis, writing in a post 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.”

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But what do we know of this disease? How common is it? Here’s everything you need to know about the former US president’s diagnosis and the disease itself.

What do we know about Biden’s prostate cancer diagnosis?

On Sunday (May 18), Joe Biden’s office released a statement announcing that the former US president had been diagnosed with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer , which has spread to the bones.

According to his office, the 82-year-old was diagnosed on May 16 after “experiencing urinary symptoms,” and a “nodule” was discovered on his prostate. The statement added that the cancer is “characterised by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone”. Metastasised cancer is much harder to treat than localised cancer because it can be hard for drugs to reach all the tumours and completely root out the disease.

The Gleason score, as experts explain, reflects the appearance of cells under a microscope. A high score indicates that many look malignant and not like normal prostate cells. A high Gleason Score means that the cancer is aggressive. As Otis Brawley, a medical oncologist at Johns Hopkins University who treats patients with metastatic prostate cancer, told the Washington Post, “If I have a Gleason Score of 6, it is almost never metastatic. If I have a 7, 8, 9 or 10, it can be metastatic. As the number goes up, the likelihood of it being metastatic goes up.”

The diagnosis of cancer for Biden comes months after he dropped out of the 2024 US presidential race over concerns about mental acuity. Now, a new book , titled Original Sin, written by CNN’s Jake Tapper and Axios’ Alex Thompson describes how the US president had been showing signs of decline that aides ignored or explained away, even before Biden’s disastrous debate that led to his decision to exit the 2024 election three weeks later.

Notably, this hasn’t been Biden’s first brush with cancer; before his tenure as US president, he had several non-melanoma skin cancers surgically removed, and he had a cancerous lesion removed from his chest in February 2023.

But what is prostate cancer?

Prostate cancer develops in the prostate, a small walnut-shaped gland located below the bladder and in front of the rectum in males. This tiny gland secretes fluid that mixes with semen, keeping sperm healthy for conception and pregnancy.

Most often, prostate cancer usually grows slowly and initially remains confined to the prostate gland where it may not cause serious harm. However, some types of prostate cancer (like in the case of Biden) can be aggressive and spread quickly to other parts of the body, including the bones.

How common is prostate cancer?

The very simple answer to this is that it is very, very common. It is especially common in older men. Behind non-melanoma skin cancer, prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in men, says the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), adding that it is also one of the leading causes of cancer death among men of all races. In fact, the CDC says that 13 out of every 100 men will develop prostate cancer at some point in their lives.

In 2021, the CDC reported 2,36,659 new cases in the US, while the American Cancer Society estimates that 3,13,780 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in 2025.

In the US alone, as per data provided by the American Cancer Society, there are almost 36,000 deaths a year from the disease. Moreover, doctors find that the survival rate for men under 65 years of age is about 98 per cent. This drops to 85 per cent for men over 80. However, if the cancer has metastasised to other parts of the body, the survival rate drops substantially, to 30-40 per cent after five years.

What are the symptoms of prostate cancer?

While the exact cause of prostate cancer hasn’t been identified, researchers observe that it is caused by changes in the DNA of a normal prostate cell.

But how does one know if they suffer from prostate cancer? Doctors state there are signs to watch out for — namely pain or difficulty urinating, more frequent urination, and blood in urine or semen.

Symptoms of advanced prostate cancer can also include back pain, bone pain, erectile dysfunction, fatigue, weight loss and weakness in the arms and legs.

What are the treatments available? What are the chances of Biden’s survival?

There are a vast array of treatment options available for prostate cancer. Depending on the severity of the cancer, one can opt for surgery to remove the prostate, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, targeted drugs such as PSMA (prostate-specific membrane antigen) proteins, and immunotherapy.

Most typically, patients with prostate cancer are treated with hormone therapy — using medications to combat testosterone’s role in fuelling cancer cell growth. The medicines work by preventing testosterone from reaching cancer cells or by reducing your testosterone levels.

However, William Dahut, the chief scientific officer for the American Cancer Society, told the Washington Post, “Once it spreads to the bones, in general we no longer consider this a curable cancer, although there are therapies that are very effective at treating the cancer.”

“He could definitely live many years with this. There’s a wide range of how long people can live with metastatic prostate cancer,” Dahut added. “In the most aggressive cases, under a year, but there are reports of people living 15 or 20 years, too.”

Adding to the mix was Trump’s close ally — far-right influencer Laura Loomer . She claimed that Biden “could very well die in the next two months.” In a series of posts on X, Loomer said, “Joe Biden has had cancer for a while,” and that “he became terminal last July, which is when Kamala Harris took over." She said, “Biden has been terminally ill since July 2024.”

“A lot of people owe me an apology. I told you all Biden was terminally ill last July. Terminal is six months to a year…Won’t be long,” Loomer claimed.

With inputs from agencies