Former US President Joe Biden said Tuesday that his prostate cancer had already spread to his bones by the time it was diagnosed last spring, while adding that the radiation treatment he underwent last fall “worked as intended.”
Marking Prostate Cancer Awareness Month, Biden wrote on X/Twitter that the issue had become deeply personal for him.
“More than 330,000 American men this year will hear the words we did last spring when I was diagnosed with prostate cancer,” Biden said. “By the time we found it, it had already spread to my bones.”
Biden urged men not to delay speaking with their doctors about screening, noting that the five-year survival rate is close to 100% when prostate cancer is detected early.
He also highlighted disparities in risk, saying black men are significantly more likely to develop the disease and to die from it, and urged those with a family history of prostate cancer to begin those conversations earlier.
Biden encourages people to seek medical assistance
Biden thanked the doctors, nurses, and other medical professionals treating him.
“The radiation treatment from last fall worked as intended, and I continue to do the things I care about, like finishing my memoir,” he said.
He concluded by encouraging people to seek medical advice and ask difficult questions.
“Do it for yourself, and do it for the people who love you,” Biden said. “And no matter what, keep the faith.”