WASHINGTON - Former President Joseph Biden has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

In a statement Sunday afternoon, 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.

Story Date: May 19, 2025