Former President Joe Biden is now receiving radiation therapy for his prostate cancer, a spokesperson for the former president confirmed to ABC News.
“As part of a treatment plan for prostate cancer, President Biden is currently undergoing radiation therapy and hormonal treatment,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
The former president’s office announced his prostate cancer diagnosis in May, noting that while it was being treated aggressively, “the cancer appears to be sensitive to hormones, allowing for effective treatment.”
In this July 31, 2025, file photo, former President Joe Biden speaks at the National Bar Association’s annual convention in Chicago.
Scott Olson/Getty Images
“It’s all a matter of taking one pill, one pill in particular, for the next six weeks and then another,” the 82-year-old said in May.
“Well, the prognosis is good. You know, we’re working on everything. It’s moving forward. So I feel good,” he added.
In May, the former president’s office said his diagnosis was “characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade 5) with bone metastasis.”
A Gleason score of 9 indicates an aggressive form of high-grade prostate cancer. It also indicates that cancer cells look very different from normal prostate cells and are likely to grow and spread quickly.
This places the cancer in Grade Group 5, the highest risk category, which is associated with a higher likelihood of metastasis and a more challenging prognosis. However, despite the cancer’s aggressiveness, its hormone-sensitive nature offers a viable treatment avenue, according to the National Cancer Institute.
President Joe Biden appears on “The View,” September 25, 2024.
ABC News
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer and the second leading cause of cancer death among men in the U.S., according to the National Institutes of Health.
An estimated 313,780 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed this year, representing 15.4% of all new cancer cases, according to the NIH. The five-year survival rate for prostate cancer is about 98%, according to the NIH.
Prostate cancer usually grows very slowly. While detecting and treating it before symptoms appear may not improve men’s health or help them live longer, it is generally a more treatable type of cancer, even when it has spread.
The news of Biden’s radiation therapy comes after he underwent Mohs surgery, a common procedure to treat skin cancer, in September, a Biden spokesperson said.
Biden’s health had been under scrutiny since before he dropped out of the presidential race in 2024, making way for then-Vice President Kamala Harris to top the Democratic presidential ticket.
Before the announcement of his prostate cancer diagnosis, Biden and former first lady Dr. Jill Biden appeared on ABC’s “The View,” where they both rejected journalists’ slate of new books who claimed Biden was dealing with cognitive decline at the end of his presidency.
Eric Strauss of ABC News contributed to this report.
