Seth McLaughlin | May 19, 2025
(The Washington Times) — Former President Joseph R. Biden has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
In a statement Sunday afternoon, Mr. Biden’s office said the cancer also had spread to his bones, while adding that it was still a treatable form of the disease.
“Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms,” the statement said. “On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (grade Group5) with metastasis to the bone.”
The Gleason score measures the aggressiveness of prostate cancers on a 6-to-10 scale.
The statement said the 9 score “represents a more aggressive form of the disease,” but added that it “appears to be hormone-sensitive, which allows for effective management.”
“The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians,” the office’s statement said.
Usually, when prostate cancer spreads to the bones or other parts of the body, it becomes much harder to treat because the tumors are no longer in one small area that can be isolated.
But when, as Mr. Biden’s statement says, it’s a cancer that needs hormones to grow, this can provide a singular treatment weapon that works throughout the body.
Dr. Matthew Smith of Massachusetts General Brigham Cancer Center told The Associated Press that recent developments allow men with metastatic prostate cancer a typical survival period of four or five years.
“It’s very treatable, but not curable,” he said.
Mr. Biden left office in January, six months after concerns about his declining physical health and mental acuity, and a disastrous first presidential debate, forced him to end his reelection bid and pass the baton to Vice President Kamala Harris. She lost to President Trump in November.
Mr. Trump wished Mr. Biden a speedy recovery.
“Melania and I are saddened to hear about Joe Biden’s recent medical diagnosis,” Mr. Trump said on Truth Social. “We extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family, and we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery.”
Ms. Harris also took to social media to offer her support, saying “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.”
Former President Barack Obama, who picked Mr. Biden as his running mate in 2008, also noted that his former vice president had made it a cause “to find breakthrough treatments for cancer in all its forms.”
“I am certain he will fight this challenge with his trademark resolve and grace,” he wrote.
Since Mr. Biden dropped out of the presidential race, after having secured the nomination, the party has kept its distance from the 82-year-old former president as it looks to regain its footing and map out a path forward.
However, the party has not been able to avoid lingering questions about why it ignored Mr. Biden’s health issues, and how it could support foisting the oldest president ever upon the nation for another four years, given his struggles.
The cancer diagnosis also comes amid revelations from new books about how Mr. Biden’s inner circle sought to hide his increasingly weak health and incoherent behavior from the public.
It also follows the release of the interview between Mr. Biden and Robert K. Hur, the special counsel who investigated and decided not to charge Mr. Biden for mishandling classified documents after his stint as vice president.
The recordings appear to support Mr. Hur’s conclusion that Mr. Biden was “a sympathetic, well-meaning, elderly man with a poor memory.”
Democrats, at the time, fumed, accusing Mr. Hurr, a registered Republican, of being a partisan hack.
Mr. Biden had reemerged Thursday with former first lady Jill Biden to tell his side of the story on ABC’s “The View,” marking their first joint interview since leaving the White House.
He shouldered some blame for Mr. Trump’s victory and pushed back against the reports of his mental decline.
“They are wrong,” Mr. Biden said. “There’s nothing to sustain that.”
