Biden was seen last week by doctors after urinary symptoms and a prostate nodule was found.
WASHINGTON D.C., DC — Joe Biden has been diagnosed with prostate cancer days after a small nodule was found during a routine physical, a spokesperson for the former president confirmed Sunday.
Biden, 82, was seen last week by doctors after experiencing urinary symptoms. A prostate nodule was found. He was officially diagnosed with prostate cancer Friday, with the cancer cells having spread “to the bone.”
“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management,” the spokesperson said in a statement. “The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”
The nodule was found Tuesday and “necessitated further evaluation,” leading to the diagnosis.
“It’s very treatable, but not curable,” Dr. Matthew Smith of Massachusetts General Brigham Cancer Center told the Associated Press. “Most men in this situation would be treated with drugs and would not be advised to have either surgery or radiation therapy.”
Biden’s vice president, Kamala Harris, said on social media that she was keeping him in her family’s “hearts and prayers during this time.”
“Joe is a fighter — and I know he will face this challenge with the same strength, resilience, and optimism that have always defined his life and leadership,” Harris wrote.
Trump took to his social media website Sunday to express his sympathy.
“Melania and I are saddened to hear about Joe Biden’s recent medical diagnosis,” he wrote. “We extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family, and we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery.”
Prostate issues are relatively common for men of Biden’s age, often occurring in men over 50. About 6 in every 10 prostate cancer diagnoses are in men over 65, according to the American Cancer Society.
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death among men in the United States, according to the American Cancer Society.
Biden has had several brushes with cancer in the past. Before assuming the office of the president, he had several non-melanoma skin cancers removed using a technique known as Mohs surgery. The surgery involves cutting thin layers of skin one at a time to preserve healthy tissue while removing cancerous cells.
Biden also had a cancerous lesion removed from his chest in February 2023.
“As expected, the biopsy confirmed that the small lesion was basal cell carcinoma,” White House physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor said at the time. “All cancerous tissue was successfully removed.”
In 2022, Biden made a “cancer moonshot” one of his administration’s priorities with the goal of halving the cancer death rate over the next 25 years. The initiative was a continuation of his work as vice president to address a disease that had killed his older son, Beau, who died from brain cancer in 2015.
His father, when announcing the goal to halve the cancer death rate, said this could be an “American moment to prove to ourselves and, quite frankly, the world that we can do really big things.”
Biden left office as the oldest president in U.S. history. He’s now 82 years old. The later years of his term were dogged by concerns about his age and health.
In an interview with “The View” to mark the 100th day in office of his successor, Donald Trump, both Joe and his wife Jill Biden denied claims that Biden had suffered a decline during the presidency.
“They are wrong. There’s nothing to sustain that,” Joe Biden said.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
