Former President Joe Biden’s office confirmed on Sunday that he was diagnosed with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer.
“Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms,” Biden’s team shared 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.”
“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,” the statement said.
‘SMALL NODULE’ FOUND IN BIDEN’S PROSTATE DURING ROUTINE EXAM, SPOKESPERSON SAYS
During his presidency, Biden had a “cancerous” skin lesion removed from his chest, the White House said at the time.
BIDEN’S PROSTATE CANCER DESCRIBED AS ‘AGGRESSIVE’ — WHAT TO KNOW ABOUT THE DISEASE’S PROGNOSIS
Former White House physician Kevin O’Connor said in February 2023 that skin tissue was removed during a health assessment Biden received and was sent for a biopsy, which revealed it was cancerous.
“As expected, the biopsy confirmed that the small lesion was basal cell carcinoma. All cancerous tissue was successfully removed. The area around the biopsy site was treated presumptively with electrodessication and curettage at the time of biopsy. No further treatment is required,” Biden’s doctor wrote in a memo at the time.
Prior to his presidency, Biden had two life-threatening brain aneurysms, and doctors said he had a 50-50 shot of surviving while serving as a Delaware senator.
Biden’s surgeries were successful, with no reports of an aneurysm since.
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Biden, 82, is the oldest living U.S. president.
Cancer has been a key focus for Biden.
While in office, he and former first lady Jill Biden addressed his revamped “Cancer Moonshot” program, which seeks to cut the cancer death rate in the U.S. by about half over the next 25 years.
Biden said the revamped program would focus on the need to break down research “silos” and improve information sharing among the cancer research community.
“It’s all about working together and sharing data, sharing information,” Biden previously said.
The “Cancer Moonshot” program was established in 2016, under former President Barack Obama, when Biden was vice president.
Cancer is the second-highest cause of death among Americans after heart disease. The American Cancer Society has estimated that 2024 will see 2 million new cancer cases and more than 610,000 fatalities from the disease.
Fox News Digital’s Greg Norman, Emma Colton, and Alec Schemmel contributed to this report.
