Former President Joe Biden diagnosed with aggressive form of prostate cancer

Former President Joe Biden was diagnosed with a “aggressive form” of prostate cancer, according to a statement from his personal office Sunday, and 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,” read a statement released by the president’s personal office. "On Friday he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis 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 statement continued. "The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians."

Biden, 82, and his family “are reviewing treatment options with his physicians,” the statement said.

According to the source, Biden is now at home in Wilmington, Delaware, although it is unclear where the former president will be treated.

A spokesperson for the former president previously disclosed last Tuesday that a “small nodule” was found on Biden’s prostate, “which necessitated further evaluation.” The nodule was discovered during a normal medical exam.

In February 2024, Biden underwent a physical at Walter Reed National Military Center overseen by his physician Dr. Kevin O’Connor, who at the time said there were “no new concerns” with the president’s health and he was “fit for duty.”

Biden has kept a quiet profile since leaving the White House, but he is gradually returning to the public spotlight. He appeared alongside his wife, Jill Biden, earlier this month on ABC’s “The View,” where he pushed back on suggestions he experienced cognitive decline in his final year in office.

"They are wrong," Joe Biden stated. "There is nothing to sustain that."

The former first lady added, “The people who wrote those books weren’t in the White House with us, and they didn’t see how hard Joe worked every single day. He’d get up, he’d put in a full day and then at night, I’d be in bed reading my book, and he was still on the phone, reading his briefings, working with staff.”

Biden has long advocated for increased cancer research, establishing the “Cancer Moonshot” initiative in the wake of his son Beau Biden’s death from brain cancer. The program, founded while Biden was vice president, was reestablished in 2022 with the goal of “ending cancer as we know it.”

“We’re mobilizing the whole country effort to cut American cancer deaths in half by 20, 25 years and boost support for patients and their families. I’m confident in our capacity to do that. I know we can, but it’s not just personal — it’s about what’s possible,” Biden said last August.

Biden, 82, is the oldest person to have served as president. Trump, at 78, was the oldest person to be inaugurated president.