Former President Joe Biden Diagnosed With Prostate Cancer
Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer that has spread to his bones. His office announced that the diagnosis came after he was experiencing increased urinary symptoms.
Doctors found a prostate nodule during a physical exam and gave Biden’s cancer a Gleason score of 9.
The Gleason scoring system is used to describe the likelihood of prostate cancer growth and metastasis.
“A pathologist analyzes a biopsy specimen and looks at the cancer glands under the microscope and ranks the cancer from a scale of 6 to 10,” said Julio Pow-Sang, MD, chair of the Genitourinary Oncology Department at Moffitt Cancer Center. “A Gleason score of 7 refers to an intermediate grade prostate cancer and a score of 8 or higher is considered to be high grade.”
Biden’s office also noted his cancer has metastasized to the bone, which means the disease has spread beyond the prostate and the local area around the prostate.
“Cancer touches us all,” Biden said in a social media post with his wife by his side. “Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places.”
Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support. pic.twitter.com/oSS1vGIiwU
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 19, 2025
A common treatment for metastatic prostate cancer is hormone therapy, such as androgen deprivation therapy. This treatment can be used to block the activity of androgens like testosterone, which fuel the growth of prostate cancer.
“The testosterone essentially feeds the tumor, so this therapy intends to starve the cancer,” Pow-Sang said. “There are additional treatments that could also be used when the cancer has spread, such as chemotherapy, immunotherapies or molecular targets to the bones.”
Currently, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force does not recommend routine prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening for men 70 and older.
