Former President Joe Biden’s office said Sunday that he has been diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer and is reviewing treatment options with his doctors.
Biden, 82, was having increasing urinary symptoms and was seen last week by doctors who found a prostate nodule. On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and the cancer cells have spread to the bone, his office said in a statement.
“It's a very common scenario," said Dr. Matthew Smith of Massachusetts General Brigham Cancer Center. Men can “feel completely well and a diagnosis of metastatic prostate cancer could come as quite a surprise.”
Guidelines recommend against prostate cancer screening for men 70 and older so Biden may not have been getting regular PSA blood tests, Smith said. What's more, while the PSA test can help flag some cancers in some men, it does not do a great job of identifying aggressive prostate cancer, Smith said.
What is the prostate gland?
Here are some things to know about prostate cancer that has spread.
What is the prostate gland?
The prostate is part of the reproductive system in men. It makes fluid for semen. It’s located below the bladder and it wraps around the urethra, the tube that carries urine and semen out through the penis.
Biden's cancer has spread to the bone, his office said. That makes it more serious than localized or early-stage prostate cancer.
Biden's cancer has spread to the bone, his office said. That makes it more serious than localized or early-stage prostate cancer.
What are the treatment options?
“It’s very treatable, but not curable,” he said.
Prostate cancer can be treated with drugs that lower levels of hormones in the body or stop them from getting into prostate cancer cells. The drugs can slow down the growth of cancer cells.
What is a Gleason score?
“Most men in this situation would be treated with drugs and would not be advised to have either surgery or radiation therapy," Smith said.
Prostate cancers are graded for aggressiveness using what’s known as a Gleason score. The scores range from 6 to 10, with 8, 9 and 10 prostate cancers behaving more aggressively. Biden’s office said his score was 9, suggesting his cancer is among the most aggressive.
Prostate cancers are graded for aggressiveness using what’s known as a Gleason score. The scores range from 6 to 10, with 8, 9 and 10 prostate cancers behaving more aggressively. Biden’s office said his score was 9, suggesting his cancer is among the most aggressive.