Former President Joe Biden was diagnosed with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer, according to a statement from his personal office on Sunday.
The cancer has spread to the former president’s bones.
“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive, which allows for effective management,” a spokesman said in a statement. “The president and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”
President Donald Trump, who has been critical of Biden’s presidency and often derides the former president as “Sleepy Joe,” sent well wishes to Biden and his family on Sunday.
“Melania and I are saddened to hear about Joe Biden’s recent medical diagnosis,” he said. “We extend our warmest and best wishes to Jill and the family, and we wish Joe a fast and successful recovery.”
Prostate cancer is a more curable form of cancer, but it can be difficult to detect early if there aren’t any indications that it is occurring in the body.
Roughly one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their life, and the average age of first diagnosis for men is 67, according to the American Cancer Society.
Biden turned 82 last November.
Before leaving office in January, Biden had been a fixture of Washington for decades, representing Delaware in the US Senate from 1973 to 2009 before serving as vice president from 2009 to 2017 under then-President Barack Obama.
In November 2020, Biden was elected president.
The following January, Biden took the oath of office at age 78, making him — at the time — the oldest US president to enter office. It’s a record that was broken by his successor, Trump, in January 2025.
Biden served for one term. He assumed the presidency amid the COVID-19 pandemic, which had transformed societies across the globe in unprecedented ways.
During Biden’s time in the Oval Office, Congress passed the Infrastructure Investment and Jobs Act and the Inflation Reduction Act, two of his most consequential initiatives.
Biden launched a reelection bid but withdrew from the race over concerns for his viability as a candidate. Many Democrats raised concerns about his health.
Last August, then-Vice President Kamala Harris officially became the Democratic presidential nominee, but lost the November general election to Trump.
