Biden Diagnosed With Aggressive Prostate Cancer: Gleason Score 9, Spread to Bone
The personal office of Joe Biden, the 46th president of the United States, announced on May 18, 2025, that Biden had been diagnosed with prostate cancer. He was diagnosed on May 16; the cancer has a Gleason score of 9, Grade Group 5, and has spread to his bones. Biden was 82 and had left the presidency in January 2025.
According to the statement, Biden was seen the previous week after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms and a prostate nodule was found; on Friday, May 16, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. The statement said that while this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive, which allows for effective management, and that the president and his family were reviewing treatment options with his physicians.
The Gleason score measures how abnormal prostate cancer cells look; a score of 9 is high, indicating cells that appear very abnormal and are more likely to grow and spread, and Grade Group 5 is the highest category in the current grading system. Spread to the bone means the disease is at an advanced stage.
The next day, May 19, Biden posted a photograph with his wife Jill on X, writing: "Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support."
President Trump also posted a message of sympathy that day, writing that he and Melania were saddened to hear about Biden's recent medical diagnosis, extending their warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family, and wishing Biden a fast and successful recovery.
During his presidency Biden championed federal cancer efforts including the Cancer Moonshot; his eldest son, Beau Biden, died of brain cancer in 2015 at age 46. (Source: Office of Joe Biden)
Source: Office of Joe Biden
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：拜登总统2024年7月9日在白宫椭圆形办公室通电话（资料图）。白宫官方照片，Adam Schultz 摄，公共领域，经 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: President Joe Biden on a call in the Oval Office of the White House on July 9, 2024 (file photo). Official White House photo by Adam Schultz, public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
