Biden’s battle with advancing cancer renews focus on prostate disease

Former President Joe Biden’s prostate cancer has spread further since his diagnosis last year, his son Hunter Biden revealed in a BBC interview that aired Friday.

“The cancer has spread, metastasized into his bones and further,” Hunter Biden told BBC Newsnight, describing his father’s condition as “very painful” and “very debilitating in many respects.”

“It’s really sad to watch,” the younger Biden went on. “The only thing that I’d say about my dad, about his health right now, is I wish he would complain more, because it’s not good.”

JOE BIDEN’S CANCER HAS SPREAD FURTHER, LEAVING HIM IN ‘VERY PAINFUL’ CONDITION, HUNTER REVEALS

Biden, 83, announced his diagnosis in May 2025, after news that a “small nodule” had been found in the former president’s prostate during a routine exam.

“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive, which allows for effective management,” his office said at the time. “The president and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”

Biden later underwent hormone therapy and radiation treatment, completing a course of radiation at Penn Medicine Radiation Oncology in Philadelphia in October 2025, according to the former president’s spokesperson.

In addition to hormone therapy, common treatment options for prostate cancer include chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy and radiopharmaceutical treatments.

Fox News Digital reached out to Biden’s office for comment.

What to know about prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is a disease found in men that develops in the prostate gland. Cases have been on the rise in recent years, with overall incidence increasing about 3% annually from 2014 through 2021, according to the American Cancer Society.

Rates of advanced-stage prostate cancer rose about 5% per year during that period.

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About 333,830 new cases of prostate cancer are expected to be diagnosed in the U.S. in 2026, and about 36,320 men are expected to die from the disease, according to the American Cancer Society.

One in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime, the same source stated.

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Older men are at a higher risk of the disease, with six in 10 cases diagnosed in patients 65 and older. The average age at diagnosis is 67, with men under 40 rarely affected.

Prostate cancer is the second-most common cancer in men, behind only skin cancer, the ACS noted.

Signs and symptoms

Among men who undergo routine prostate cancer screening, the disease is usually caught early before symptoms emerge, per the ACS.

Typical early symptoms include problems urinating, a weak or slow urinary stream or an increased need to urinate. Some men may also notice blood in the urine or bodily fluids.

More advanced symptoms may occur after the disease has spread. Those may include pain in the hips, back (spine), chest (ribs) or other areas, the ACS stated.

Men may also suffer from erectile dysfunction, weight loss, extreme fatigue, weakness in the legs or feet, or loss of bladder or bowel control.

Screening recommendations

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force states that men aged 55 to 69 years should have the option to undergo periodic prostate-specific antigen (PSA)-based screening to monitor for prostate cancer.

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“Before deciding whether to be screened, men should have an opportunity to discuss the potential benefits and harms of screening with their clinician and to incorporate their values and preferences in the decision,” the USPSTF states.

While screening offers a “small potential benefit” of reducing the chances of dying from the disease, the agency noted that some men may experience negative effects, including false-positive results, overdiagnosis and overtreatment, and treatment complications.

Alternative prostate cancer screening methods are currently being researched, including one that uses a non-invasive urine test, as Fox News Digital recently reported.

Survival rates

For localized prostate cancers, where the disease is contained within the prostate, the five-year survival rate is at least 99%, according to the ACS.

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For regional cases, where the disease has spread only to “nearby structures or lymph nodes,” the five-year survival rate is also 99% or greater.

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If the cancer has spread to other areas of the body, the five-year survival rate drops to 37%.

Actual survival rates may vary based on the patient’s age, overall health, how the cancer has progressed post-diagnosis, the disease’s response to treatment, and other factors, the ACS noted.