NEED TO KNOW
- Former President Joe Biden was last screened for prostate cancer in 2014
- The former president was diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer on Friday, May 16
- A representative for Biden now confirms that the former president was never previously diagnosed with the disease until May 2025
A representative for former U.S. President Joe Biden is revealing new details on his prostate cancer diagnosis.
In a statement to NBC News, Reuters and CBS News on Tuesday, May 20, a spokesperson for the former president, 82, said he received his last Prostate Specific Antigen (PSA) test in 2014, when he would’ve been in his early 70s. The spokesperson confirmed that Biden was not diagnosed with cancer until Friday, May 16.
“President Biden’s last known PSA was in 2014. Prior to Friday, President Biden had never been diagnosed with prostate cancer,” the spokesperson said.
The PSA test is a blood test that screens for “prostate-specific antigen (PSA) in your blood. PSA is a protein produced by both cancerous and noncancerous tissue in the prostate, a small gland that sits below the bladder in males,” per the Mayo Clinic.
Most prostate cancer diagnoses are discovered when the disease is in its early stages and has not spread to other parts of the body. Only 8% of prostate cancer cases are diagnosed after the disease has spread to other parts of the body, as is the case with Biden’s, NBC News reports.
The level of aggression of the cancer is determined by the Gleason score and grade system. Biden’s cancer has a Gleason score of 9 and is Grade 5, meaning it’s a “very high grade,” per the Mayo Clinic.
The updated timeline of Biden’s diagnosis comes in response to questions about why his cancer was not discovered sooner, due to its advanced stage.
Donald Trump Jr. shared an unfounded allegation that Biden concealed the diagnosis during his time in the White House, and was secretly battling cancer during the late stages of his presidency. Trump, 47, shared a post on X on Sunday, May 18, that seemed to imply that the Biden administration had either overlooked or concealed his illness.
“What I want to know is how did Dr. Jill Biden miss stage five metastatic cancer or is this yet another coverup???” President Donald Trump’s eldest son, 47, wrote of the 73-year-old former first lady, whose doctorate degree is in education.
On Sunday, May 18, Biden’s personal office announced in a statement that the former president had been diagnosed with the disease.
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“Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms,” the statement said.
“On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone,” the statement continued. “While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management. The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”
In a follow-up post shared to X, Biden posted a photo of himself with his wife, former First Lady Dr. Jill Biden, and the couple’s cat, Willow.
“Cancer touches us all,” Biden wrote. “Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support.”
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