Biden says prostate cancer radiation treatment ‘worked as intended’
Former US president says doctors helped control the disease and that he’s still doing what he cares about, ‘like finishing my memoir’
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
Former US president Joe Biden said Tuesday that radiation treatment he underwent for prostate cancer last fall “worked as intended,” and that doctors had helped to control the disease.
In a statement marking Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, Biden said he continued to do the things he cared about, “like finishing my memoir,” and urged men to speak with their doctors about screening.
Biden did not say in the statement that he was cancer-free or in remission. He recalled that when he was diagnosed with cancer in spring 2025, the disease had already spread to his bones.
The former president’s office announced in May 2025 that Biden had been diagnosed with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer after experiencing urinary symptoms, and that doctors had discovered a prostate nodule. The cancer had metastasized to his bones and received a Gleason score of 9, the second-worst in a grading used to assess the aggressiveness of prostate cancer.
His office said at the time that although the disease was aggressive, it appeared to be hormone-sensitive, which allowed for effective management. Cancers that have metastasized, or spread, are considered Stage 4, the most advanced stage.
Later that month, AP reported that Biden told reporters he was “feeling good” and said his treatment at the time involved taking a pill. His comments came during a Memorial Day event in Delaware that coincided with the 10th anniversary of the death of his son Beau, who died of brain cancer in 2015.
Every September we mark Prostate Cancer Awareness Month. This year it’s more personal for me.
More than 330,000 American men this year will hear the words we did last spring when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer. By the time we found it, it had already spread to my bones.…
— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) September 8, 2026
In October 2025, a spokesperson for Biden said the former president “is currently undergoing radiation therapy and hormone treatment,” the spokesperson said.
The latest update from Biden came about a month after son Hunter Biden gave a more troubling account of his father’s health. In an interview with the BBC broadcast August 7, Hunter said the cancer had “metastasized into his bones and further” and described his father’s condition as “very painful” and “very debilitating in many respects.”
Hunter nevertheless said his father remained active and continued to speak publicly about issues important to him. “He’s still doing his thing. He so believes in this country,” he said.
In his Tuesday statement, Biden focused much of his message on encouraging men to speak with their doctors about prostate cancer screening. He said more than 330,000 American men would be diagnosed with the disease this year and noted the five-year survival rate was close to 100 percent when it was detected early.
Cancer has long been a major personal and political issue for Biden. After his son died of brain cancer at age 46, Biden spearheaded the “Moonshot” campaign aimed at advancing cancer research and making treatments more widely available.
The Times of Israel Community.