How treatable is prostate cancer? A doctor reacts to Biden's diagnosis

Then-President Joe Biden, pictured during a White House ceremonial successful January 2025, has been diagnosed pinch what his agency calls an "aggressive form" of prostate cancer. Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images hide caption

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Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images

Former President Joe Biden's agency announced Sunday that he has been diagnosed pinch an "aggressive" shape of prostate cancer, which has dispersed to his bones. But it said nan crab appears to beryllium hormone-sensitive, "which allows for effective management."

Prostate crab is nan astir communal crab among men successful nan U.S. aft tegument cancer, and tin often beryllium treated successfully, according to nan American Cancer Society.

It has an wide five-year endurance rate of 97%, though that number is little — 37% — successful cases wherever nan crab has dispersed to different parts of nan body.

Dr. Ben Davies, a professor of urology astatine nan University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, told NPR's Morning Edition that Biden "has a very bad type of it, astir apt nan worst type you tin get."

The astir communal grading strategy for prostate crab is called nan Gleason score, which involves studying tissues nether a microscope to measure really quickly nan crab cells tin turn (small, intimately packed cells get little grades). Scores scope from 6 to 10, pinch those of 8 aliases supra treated arsenic high-risk cancers.

Biden's agency says he has a Gleason people of 9.

While Davies doesn't cognize nan nonstop grade of Biden's condition, he says location are immoderate bully options successful beforehand of nan erstwhile president.

Those see hormonal treatments, for illustration injections, to suppress nan testosterone levels successful his assemblage truthful that nan crab "stops increasing rather arsenic accelerated and tin almost melt distant from nan bones."

That could besides beryllium paired pinch chemotherapy, which is typically used only successful precocious prostate cancer. A 3rd action is radiation therapy, which Davies says "has been proven to widen life successful patients pinch recently diagnosed metastatic prostate cancer."

"It's not each punishment and gloom, to beryllium honest," Davies said. "He tin easy unrecorded 10 years pinch this disease."

Biden's agency says he is reviewing curen options pinch his doctors. Davies says Biden's age, 82, doesn't needfully limit what's connected nan table.

"It's not really an age-specific thing," he says. "It's much nan physiology, and really he tin return nan therapies that he's getting."

He did statement that definite imaginable medications could "increase immoderate of nan frailty aspects of life." Biden's beingness and intelligence fittingness has been nan taxable of aggravated scrutiny during and since his clip successful office, pinch questions astir nan erstwhile president's age and well-being yet forcing him to wantonness his 2024 reelection bid.

In his first nationalist comments connected Monday, successful which he thanked group for their support, Biden wrote that "cancer touches america all."

"Like truthful galore of you, Jill and I person learned that we are strongest successful nan surgery places," he tweeted, alongside a selfie of nan mates and their cat.

How communal is prostate cancer? 

The American Cancer Society (ACS) estimates location will beryllium astir 313,780 new cases of prostate crab successful nan U.S. successful 2025, and astir 35,770 deaths.

In a statement, it said Biden's test is simply a "reminder astir nan tragic effect of prostate crab successful nan US, wherever astir 1 successful 8 men will beryllium diagnosed complete their lifetime."

"Although it is simply a highly survivable illness erstwhile caught successful early stages, it is nan 2nd starring origin of crab decease successful men," it added.

The ACS says while nan prostate crab death complaint decreased by astir half from 1993 to 2022, its diminution has slowed successful caller years — apt reflecting a emergence successful cancers recovered astatine a later stage.

Meanwhile, it says, nan number of cases diagnosed each twelvemonth has accrued by 3% each twelvemonth since 2014.

Who's astatine consequence and what tin they do astir it? 

Risk factors for prostate crab include age, race and family history. It develops much often successful Black men and Caribbean men of African ancestry than those of different races and is usually seen aft property 50. The ACS says astir 6 successful 10 prostate cancers are recovered successful men complete property 65.

Screening for prostate crab typically involves a humor trial and a integer rectal exam, and guidelines alteration for erstwhile men should talk to their expert astir it.

The ACS recommends property 50 if they are astatine mean risk, 45 if they are astatine precocious consequence and 40 if they person much than 1 first-degree comparative who had prostate crab astatine an early age.

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends men aged 55 to 69 get screened for prostate cancer, and astir men older than that should not get screened routinely.

Davies says that's successful portion because astir prostate cancers recovered astatine that property are indolent: increasing slow and not causing sizeable pain.

"If you screened a organization of patients for prostate crab successful their 80s, you would beryllium … adding unwarranted interest to those patients," he said. "So I would talk to your superior attraction expert astir what it intends to beryllium screened, nan pluses and minuses."

Where does crab investigation stand? 

Davies says investigation has allowed for significant advances successful diagnosing and treating prostate crab complete nan past decade.

"We've made awesome gains successful prostate crab attraction successful nan metastatic abstraction complete nan past 10 years and really extended life," he says.

Biden himself has agelong been a champion successful nan conflict against cancer, which was individual for him years earlier his ain diagnosis: His boy Beau died of encephalon crab successful 2015.

As vice president, Biden led nan Cancer Moonshot initiative, which brought national resources together to accelerate advancement successful crab investigation to "eliminate crab arsenic we cognize it," aiming to trim nan crab decease complaint by astatine slightest 50% wrong 25 years. He relaunched nan program arsenic president successful 2022, pinch nan extremity of "making a decade's worthy of advancement successful crab prevention, diagnosis, and curen successful 5 years."

The Trump administration, connected nan different hand, has stifled national backing for technological investigation done funding freezes, rule changes and job cuts — which researchers opportunity is hampering nan fight against cancer and different diseases.

A report released past week by nan Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee recovered that nan White House trim crab investigation by 31% successful nan first 3 months of this year, compared to nan aforesaid clip framework successful 2024.

"We will only make headway into prostate crab attraction pinch observant and robust backing of our subject institutions, which I'm really hoping will continue," Davies said. "And that will pave nan measurement for early group who get nan illness nan president has."