Joe Biden undergoing radiation therapy for prostate cancer treatment
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 hormone treatment," the spokesperson said in a statement.
The former president's office announced his prostate cancer diagnosis in May, noting that while it was an aggressive form, "the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management."
"It's all a matter of taking a pill, one particular pill, for the next six weeks and then another one," the 82-year-old said in May.
"Well, the prognosis is good. You know, we're working on everything. It's moving along. So I feel good," he added.
Back in May, the former president's office said his diagnosis was "characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone."
A Gleason score of 9 indicates a high-grade, aggressive form of prostate cancer. It further indicates that the cancer cells look very different from normal prostate cells and are likely to grow and spread rapidly.
This places the cancer in the Grade Group 5, the highest-risk category, which is associated with a greater likelihood of metastasis and a more challenging prognosis. Yet despite the cancer's aggressiveness, its hormone-sensitive nature offers a viable treatment pathway, according to the National Cancer Institute.
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 from prostate cancer is roughly 98%, the NIH says.
Prostate cancer usually grows very slowly. While finding and treating it before symptoms occur 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 had 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, giving way to then-Vice President Kamala Harris to top the Democratic presidential ticket.
Prior to the announcement of his prostate cancer diagnosis, Biden and former first lady Dr. Jill Biden appeared on ABC's "The View," where they both pushed back against the slate of new books from reporters claiming that Biden was dealing with cognitive decline at the end of his presidency.
ABC News' Eric Strauss contributed to this report.
