Jill Biden Reveals the One Nighttime Symptom She Flagged to White House Doctors Before Joe's Diagnosis
Understanding the Aggressive Gleason 9 Diagnosis
Joe was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer in May 2025, carrying a Gleason score of 9 — a rating placed in the highest-risk category doctors track, according to NPR. The cancer had already reached his bones.
A statement from his office described it as "characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone," while noting the cancer appeared to be hormone-sensitive, which allows for more effective long-term management.
Official screening guidelines often advise against routine blood tests for men over the age of 70. Physicians generally assume the disease develops too slowly to warrant invasive testing in older patients. These guidelines worked against Joe Biden. | Source: Getty Images
Prostate cancer overall carries a strong five-year survival rate of 97%. Once it spreads beyond the prostate, though, that number drops sharply to 37%, per the American Cancer Society. It remains the second leading cause of cancer death in men in the United States, even though it is highly survivable when caught early.
Days after the announcement, Joe addressed the diagnosis publicly for the first time. "Cancer touches us all. 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," he wrote on X, alongside a photo of the couple and their cat.
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