Former U.S President Joseph R. Biden’s office announced Sunday, May 18 morning that he has been diagnosed with an “aggressive“ form of cancer, which has spread to his bones.

According to the New York Times, questions about Biden’s cancer diagnosis have been among the most searched on the internet since the announcement.

Among questions Americans are asking are; Did the White House hide Biden’s ailment when he was running for re-election? If not, did the disease go undetected in the former POTUS?

According to the  American Cancer Society, prostate cancer is the most common cancer among men in the U.S. after skin cancer.

Doctors say that prostate cancer can often be treated successfully.

What is prostate cancer?

Prostate cancer is a slow growing cancer and more often, it is confined to the prostate gland, requiring minimal or no treatment. In some cases, it can take up to eight years to spread from the prostate to other parts of the body (metastasis), typically the bones.

While the exact causes of prostate cancer are not fully understood, several factors are known to increase the risk of developing the cancer, including age, ethnicity, family history, certain genetic mutations, obesity, diet, and lifestyle choices like smoking and alcohol consumption.

How treatable is it?

Treatability of prostate cancer depends on the following factors;

~Stage of the cancer (early/localized vs. advanced)

~Grade (how aggressive the cancer cells are, based on the Gleason score)

~Age and general health of the patient

According to American science journalist Gina Kolata, Biden’s prostate cannot be cured, but can only be controlled with drugs because it has spread from his prostate to his bones. In essence, Biden’s cancer is treatable but not curable.

His diagnosis involves an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has metastasized to his bones, corresponding to a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5), indicating a high-grade, fast-growing cancer. 

Despite the advanced stage, Biden’s cancer is hormone-sensitive, allowing for effective management through various treatments:

• Hormone Therapy: Medications that lower testosterone levels can slow cancer growth and alleviate symptoms.
• Chemotherapy: Often used in combination with hormone therapy to target cancer cells more aggressively.
• Radiation Therapy: Can be employed to control pain and reduce tumor size in affected bones.

These treatments aim to control the disease, improve quality of life, and extend survival.

Kolata told the New York Times that patients with a Stage 4 diagnosis typically live five to 10 years.

“That’s much better than it would have been just a few years ago. Doctors will likely give him a drug that stops his testes from making testosterone, which fuels the cancer, plus another drug that mops up any testosterone in his bloodstream. He might also get chemotherapy, radiation or other drugs that are specific for his cancer,” she said.

“It’s not all doom and gloom, to be honest,” Dr. Ben Davies, a professor of urology at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, told the NPR. “He can easily live 10 years with this disease.”