Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, his personal office announced on Sunday.
“Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms,” read a statement released by the president’s personal office. “On Friday he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone.”
“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management,” the statement continued. “The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”
A spokesperson for Biden’s office said that they do not have any additional comment beyond the office’s statement.
The former president and his family are meeting with doctors and considering “multiple treatment options,” including hormone treatment for the cancer, according to a source familiar with Biden’s and his family’s thinking.
Approximately one out of eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their life, according to the American Cancer Society. The cancer is common in older men, and it is the second-leading cause of cancer death in American men, with lung cancer being the first, according to the society.
A spokesperson for the former president previously disclosed last Tuesday that a “small nodule” was found on Biden’s prostate, “which necessitated further evaluation.” The nodule was found during a routine physical examination.
The diagnosis comes as Democrats face a reckoning over whether Biden should have run for a second term in the first place. Biden’s run — and subsequent withdrawal — stoked deep divisions in the party over whether a run at his age helped contribute to Donald Trump’s win in November.
Biden, 82, is the oldest person to have held the presidency. Trump, at 78, was the oldest person to be inaugurated president.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
This article originally appeared on NBCNews.com. Read more from NBC News:
Source link
