Former US President Joe Biden has commented for the first time on his diagnosis with an "aggressive form" of prostate cancer.
Posting a picture on X with his wife Jill, Mr Biden, 82, wrote: “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. “
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. pic.twitter.com/oSS1vGIiwU
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 19, 2025
His office released a statement on Sunday evening announcing his diagnosis, explaining that he has stage 9 cancer.
The finding came after the 82-year-old reported urinary symptoms, which led doctors to discover a nodule on his prostate. He was diagnosed with prostate cancer on Friday, with the cancer cells having spread to the bone.
“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.
“The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”
Prostate cancers are given a score called a Gleason score that measures, on a scale of 1 to 10, how the cancerous cells look compared with normal cells.
Mr Biden's score of 9 suggests his cancer is among the most aggressive.
When prostate cancer spreads to other parts of the body, it often spreads to the bones.
Metastasised cancer is much harder to treat than localised cancer because it can be hard for drugs to reach all the tumours and completely root out the disease.
However, when prostate cancers need hormones to grow, as in Biden's case, they can be susceptible to treatment that deprives the tumours of hormones.
US President Donald Trump, who faced off against Mr Biden during the 2020 and early parts of the 2024 election cycle, said he was “saddened” to hear the news.
“We extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family, and we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery,” he posted on Truth Social.
Mr Biden’s former vice president Kamala Harris said she and husband Doug Emhoff were keeping the entire Biden family “in our hearts and prayers”.
“Joe is a fighter - and I know he will face this challenge with the same strength, resilience, and optimism that have always defined his life and leadership,” she said.
“We are hopeful for a full and speedy recovery.”
Sir Keir Starmer said he wished Mr Biden a “swift and successful treatment”.
“I am very sorry to hear President Biden has prostate cancer,” the Prime Minister said.
“All the very best to Joe, his wife Jill and their family, and wishing the President swift and successful treatment.”
The health of Mr Biden was a dominant concern among voters during his time as president.
After a calamitous debate performance in June while seeking reelection, Biden abandoned his bid for a second term.
Then-Vice President Kamala Harris became the nominee and lost to Republican Donald Trump, who returned to the White House after a four-year hiatus.
But in recent days, Mr Biden rejected concerns about his age despite reporting in the new book "Original Sin" by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson that aides had shielded the public from the extent of his decline while serving as president.
In February 2023, Mr Biden had a skin lesion removed from his chest that was a basal cell carcinoma, a common form of skin cancer.
And in November 2021, he had a polyp removed from his colon that was a benign but potentially pre-cancerous lesion.
In 2022, Mr Biden made a "cancer moonshot" one of his administration's priorities with the goal of halving the cancer death rate over the next 25 years. The initiative was a continuation of his work as vice president to address a disease that had killed his older son, Beau.
Mr Biden's term as president ended on January 20, when Trump was sworn in.
