Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with a high-grade prostate cancer, according to his office. After a small nodule was identified in his prostate last Tuesday, Biden learned on Friday that it was cancer, and that it had metastisized to his bones.
“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management,” Biden’s office continued in an unsigned statement. “The president and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”
Biden, who is 82, has had bouts with cancer before: In 2023 he had a cancerous lesion removed from his chest, and prior to taking presidential office he was treated for non-melanoma skin cancers with Mohs surgery.
Since departing office in January, Biden has made limited public appearances, among them an outing to the opening night of Othello on Broadway in March; a visit to the Vatican for the funeral of Pope Francis last month; and a sit-down interview on The View with his wife, Dr. Jill Biden, on May 8. (The latter anticipated the release of Alex Thompson and Jake Tapper’s incendiary new book, Original Sin, about the end of Biden’s presidency.)
“I’m trying to figure out what’s the most significant and consequential role I can play, consistent with what I’ve done in the past,” Biden told The View’s hosts regarding his future involvement with the Democratic Party. He also confirmed that he is presently writing a new book, assumed to be a presidential memoir.