Joe Biden Faces Rare, Aggressive Prostate Cancer Diagnosis: What This Means for His Future Revealed

Cancer news about a former president? Never a dull moment in the political spotlight, right? Joe Biden’s team just dropped the bombshell today—turns out, the 82-year-old ex-Commander-in-Chief has been diagnosed with a notably aggressive form of prostate cancer that’s already spread to his bones. Now, before you jump to conclusions, there’s a silver lining: this version of the disease is hormone-sensitive, which usually means it can be effectively managed with the right treatment. But it does raise a poignant question—how does a lifetime of stress, politics, and decades in the limelight weigh on a man’s health behind closed doors? And why does this news feel as unavoidable as a tweet from a certain former president? Biden’s office says the family’s reviewing treatment options, which sounds like the beginning of one very serious health chapter. But, as always, it’s proof that even the most powerful among us are a bit more human than the history books show. LEARN MORE

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.

“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.”

Biden left the White House in January. (Scott Olson/Getty Images)

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.

Prostate Cancer UK says that in the UK, about one in eight men will get prostate cancer in their lifetime.

More to follow.