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Four months after his decades-long political career ended, Joe Biden has a different type of fight on his hands. The former U.S. president was diagnosed Friday (May 16, 2025) with an aggressive form of prostate cancer. Doctors added that it has spread to his bones.
“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive, which allows for effective management,” a statement from the former president’s office noted. “The president and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”
The statement went on to explain the disease was discovered after Biden had complained of urinary symptoms. It added his cancer is “characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone.”
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According to the Cleveland Clinic, “Gleason scores range from six (low-grade cancer) to ten (high-grade cancer).”
“Low grade prostate cancer grows more slowly than high-grade cancer and is less likely to spread,” the clinic noted.
The news comes on the heels of the former chief executive’s recent reemergence in the public eye. He recently did a high profile interview with the BBC and was a guest on TV’s “The View” along with his wife, former first lady Jill Biden.
The news also breaks at a time when Democrats are increasingly drawing fire for having been aware of Biden’s declining capacities while party stalwarts continually insisted he was capable of serving a second term.
It also follows the belated release last week of an audio recording of then-president Biden’s October 2023 interviews with special counsel Robert Hur, in which he could not recall when his son died – or the year he left office as vice president. Hur later wrote in his final report that Biden came off as “a sympathetic, well-meaning elderly man with a poor memory.”
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Beau Biden, the former president’s eldest son and former attorney general of Delaware, died of brain cancer on May 30, 2015. In February 2022, the Biden administration relaunched the public-private Cancer Moonshot initiative with the goal of reducing the cancer death rate in America by at least 50% over the next 25 years.
Biden’s longtime political rival – who preceded him and succeeded him in office – issued a public statement upon learning of the news.
“Melania and I are saddened to hear about Joe Biden’s recent medical diagnosis,” president Donald Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. “We extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family, and we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery.”
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ABOUT THE AUTHOR…
J. Mark Powell is an award-winning former TV journalist, government communications veteran, and a political consultant. He is also an author and an avid Civil War enthusiast. Got a tip or a story idea for Mark? Email him at mark@fitsnews.com.
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