Former United States President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an aggressive type of prostate cancer that has already spread to his bones.
According to a statement from his office on Sunday, the 82-year-old received the diagnosis on Friday after showing worsening urinary issues and the discovery of a prostate nodule.
Despite the seriousness of the condition, doctors say the cancer is hormone-sensitive, which means it can be managed with the right treatment.
“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,” it continued.
Prostate cancer is common in older men and often grows slowly. However, Biden’s case appears more advanced.
The cancer was given a Gleason score of 9, placing it in Grade Group 5 — the most severe category — which means the cells look very abnormal and are likely to grow quickly.
Throughout his presidency, Joe Biden faced ongoing scrutiny about his age and health. Even some Democratic supporters questioned whether he had the stamina and sharpness to handle the demands of the presidency. His usual response was: “Watch me.”
But doubts grew stronger after a poor performance in a debate against Donald Trump last July, which led him to end his campaign for re-election.
His Vice President, Kamala Harris, later ran but was defeated by Trump.
Biden has insisted he could have won if he had stayed in the race, though concerns about how his team handled visible signs of his decline continue to stir debate.
These concerns are resurfacing ahead of the release of a new book titled “Original Sin: President Biden’s Decline, Its Cover-Up, and His Disastrous Choice to Run Again” by journalists Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson.
A recently released recording of Biden struggling to speak clearly and recall events has added to the conversation around his cognitive health.
Biden’s life has been filled with personal losses. In 1972, just after being elected to the Senate at age 29, he lost his wife and infant daughter in a car crash.
In 1988, he had two brain aneurysms that required surgery. In 2023, he had a skin cancer lesion removed, following earlier treatments for non-melanoma skin cancers. His son, Beau Biden, died of brain cancer in 2015.
KanyiDaily recalls that Joe Biden recently joined world leaders, dignitaries, and thousands of mourners at St. Peter’s Square in Rome to pay their final respects to Pope Francis.