Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones, his office said in a statement on Sunday.
“Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms,” read a statement released by the president’s personal office. “On Friday he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone,” the statement read.
“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management,” the statement continued. “The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”
The Gleason score is calculated by adding together the two grades of cancer cells that make up the largest areas of the biopsied tissue sample. The Gleason score usually ranges from 6 to 10. The lower the Gleason score, the more the cancer cells look like normal cells and are likely to grow and spread, according to the National Cancer Institute.
Biden and his family are meeting with doctors and considering hormone treatment for the cancer, according to a source familiar.
The former president was evaluated after a small nodule was found in the prostate, which required further evaluation, his office said last week.
One out of eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their life, according to the American Cancer Society. All men are at risk for prostate cancer, but age is the most common risk factor, according to the CDC.
Biden’s son, Beau, died of brain cancer in 2015 at age 46. President Biden has long said that he believes the cancer caused by exposure to burn pits in Iraq.
The news of Biden’s cancer diagnosis comes as Democrats continue to question if he should have run for a second term, with deep division in the party.
