Former President of the United States Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer, his office announced on Sunday. Biden, who served as a senator from Delaware, Barack Obama’s vice president from 2009 to 2017, and President from 2021 to 2025, had been experiencing urinary problems when he visited the doctor on Friday.
“Last Week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms,” his office said in a statement. “On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone.”
Biden had previously undergone treatments for different cancers, mainly non-melanoma skin cancers and a lesion in his chest. He had been running for re-election in 2024, but stepped aside to allow his vice president, Kamala Harris, to run against Donald Trump, whom he defeated in 2020 to become President.
The statement concluded that the cancer “appears to be hormone-sensitive, which allows for effective management.” He and his family are looking at treatment options.
BREAKING:President Biden has been diagnosed with prostate cancer “with metastasis to the bone.””[T]he cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management. The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”
— Kyle Griffin (@kylegriffin1.bsky.social) 2025-05-18T20:05:31.648Z
Joe Biden was the oldest person to win the US Presidency when he defeated incumbent Donald Trump during the contentious 2020 Presidential election. Mr. Biden has suffered from stuttering for most of his life, for which his classmates bullied him. Although not a great public speaker, he was elected to the US Senate in 1972 and served until 2009 when he became Vice President.
He has also seen tragedy in his life. His first wife, Neilia, and daughter, Naomi, were killed in a car crash a month after he was elected to the Senate, and his son, Beau, died of brain cancer in 2015.
Questions about his physical health and mental acuity were a major story in the lead-up to the 2024 US Presidential election. A bad debate performance against the challenger, Trump, sparked speculation that led to his deciding not to run for re-election, and handing the reins over to Vice President Kamala Harris, whom Trump defeated in November.
The American Cancer Society notes that prostate cancer is the most common in the United States, and that 1 in 8 American men will have it in their lifetime. Their statistics also point out that older men, usually over 65, receive 60% of prostate cancer diagnoses, with age 67 being the average age. Lung cancer is the most common cause of cancer-related deaths in the United States, and prostate cancer is second. One in 44 men will die of prostate cancer. The risks of contracting the disease vary from person to person.
However, they also mention that death rates have halved between 1993 and 2022. They credit early detection and diagnosis, and improved treatment. The treatment usually involves chemotherapy, surgery, radiation therapy, and hormone therapy, which will likely be Mr. Biden’s choice.
