Joe Biden diagnosed with ‘aggressive’ form of prostate cancer
Joe Biden had been diagnosed with cancer.
His personal office shared a statement today (18 May), revealing that the former US President has a 'more aggressive' form of prostate cancer.
As the 82-year-old and his family review 'treatment options', it is said 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, characterised by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone," it reads.
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"While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management. The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians."
Gleason is the commonly used grading system for prostate cancer and 'examines the pattern of cancer cells in the prostate tissue, and how they look and act, compared with normal cells', per Macmillan Cancer Research.
Cancer Research UK explains that the Gleason score of 9, falling into Grade Group 5, means: "The cells look very abnormal.
"The cancer is likely to grow quickly."
Biden's office's statement inclusion that the cancer is 'hormone sensitive' and this suggests it can likely be managed.
The former president's diagnosis comes close to a year since he had to drop out of the 2024 US presidential election due to concerns surrounding his health and age. The Democrat was the oldest person to hold the office in the country's history.
Running against current president Donald Trump, Biden was replaced in the campaign by his vice president, Kamala Harris.
In February 2023, he had a cancerous lesion removed from his chest, found to be the common form of skin cancer, a basal cell carinoma.
And, in November 2021, he had a polyp removed from his colon that was a benign, but potentially pre-cancerous, lesion.
During his time in office, in 2022, Biden made a 'cancer moonshot' one of his administration's priorities. Its goal was to halve the cancer death rate over the next 25 years.
This initiative was a continuation of his work as vice president (under Barack Obama) to address a disease that had killed his eldest son, Beau.
Prostate Cancer UK says that in the UK, about one in eight men will get prostate cancer in their lifetime. The charity says it is the most common cancer in men and that more than 50,000 men are diagnosed with it every year.
Jess Battison