Trump, first lady wish former president ‘fast and successful recovery’
Former U.S. President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has metastasized to his bones, and he and his family are reviewing treatment options with his doctors. President Donald Trump and first lady Melania Trump said they were saddened by the news and wished Biden a “fast and successful recovery.”
Biden, 82, underwent medical evaluation last week after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms. Doctors discovered a prostate nodule, which was later confirmed as cancerous.
The cancer is described as hormone-sensitive, which his office noted could allow for effective management, according to The Associated Press. His diagnosis included a Gleason score of 9, one of the highest on the aggressiveness scale for prostate cancer.
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It suggests high-grade disease, meaning the cancerous cells look significantly different from normal cells and are likely to grow and spread quickly, as per the Cancer Research U.K. classification. The cancer has already spread to his bones, a common site for metastasis in prostate cancer patients.
Metastasized cancer is typically more difficult to treat due to the challenge of targeting all affected areas.
Hormone-sensitive prostate cancer, as in Biden’s case, is generally managed with medications that block or lower hormone levels, which can slow or halt the cancer’s growth. Medical experts say such cases, while not curable, can often be treated effectively to extend life.
Dr. Matthew Smith of Massachusetts General Brigham Cancer Center was quoted as saying that most patients with metastatic hormone-sensitive prostate cancer are treated with drugs and would generally not be advised to undergo surgery or radiation.
Public reaction to the diagnosis has largely transcended political divisions.
Trump posted on Truth Social: “Melania and I are saddened to hear about Joe Biden’s recent medical diagnosis. We extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family, and we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery.”
Trump and Biden were opponents in the 2020 and 2024 election cycles.
Former Vice President Kamala Harris, who was installed to replace Biden as the Democratic nominee after he exited the 2024 race, called him “a fighter,” adding that she and her husband, Doug Emhoff, were keeping the Bidens in their thoughts.
Former President Barack Obama, under whom Biden served as vice president, praised Biden’s long-standing commitment to fighting cancer. “Nobody has done more to find breakthrough treatments for cancer in all its forms than Joe, and I am certain he will fight this challenge with his trademark resolve and grace,” he wrote on social media.
Former Secretary of State and first lady Hillary Clinton also shared wishes for a “speedy, full recovery.”
New York Mayor Eric Adams, whose ties with Biden had frayed in recent years, urged Americans to join him in offering prayers for the former president.
British leaders, including Keir Starmer and Rishi Sunak, also issued public messages of support, as did political figures such as Pete Buttigieg and Tim Walz.
Biden made cancer research a central focus of his administration with the 2022 relaunch of the “cancer moonshot” initiative. The program aimed to halve the national cancer death rate over 25 years. The mission was personal — his eldest son, Beau Biden, died from brain cancer in 2015.
While in office, Biden’s cognitive health was regularly scrutinized. He was the oldest president to take office when he defeated Trump in 2020.
In annual medical evaluations, his doctors had consistently declared him fit to serve. In February 2023, he had a basal cell carcinoma removed from his chest. In 2021, a colon polyp was removed and found to be benign.
Speculation over his fitness intensified toward the end of his presidency. His decision to withdraw from the 2024 election followed a poorly received debate performance against Trump, which reignited questions about his cognitive and physical condition.
Biden handed the Democratic nomination to Harris, who went on to lose the election.
A forthcoming book, Original Sin by Jake Tapper and Alex Thompson, alleges that aides shielded the public from the extent of Biden’s decline in his final year in office. The authors claim that staff intervened to manage his appearances and that his wife, Jill Biden, often finished his sentences. Tapper has been ridiculed for the book, given that he chastised guests on CNN who raised questions about Biden’s cognitive health and ability to function to meet the demands of the presidency.
Biden denied these accounts cited in the book, calling them inaccurate and unsubstantiated.
In interviews conducted shortly before the diagnosis was made public, he rejected the idea that age had impaired his capabilities, stating that such claims were unfounded, noted The Times.
