Biden will be here soon: Former President metastatic prostate cancer

Posted by peterj116 @peterj116, 2 days ago

"On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone."
"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," the statement continued.

As a non-American watching the last 4 years from afar, I make no comment.

Interested in more discussions like this? Go to the Prostate Cancer Support Group.

lag | @lag | 1 day ago

In reply to @brian5837 "Where did you see the Otis Brawley, comment? Thanks." + (show)

The comment was published yesterday, May 18, in the Washington Post. Here is a link to the URL for the article: https://www.washingtonpost.com/politics/2025/05/18/biden-prostate-cancer/

bluegill | @bluegill | 1 day ago

In reply to @surftohealth88 "Don't listen too much what "news" anchors tell, they always sensationalize things to sound "interesting" and..." + (show)

Thanks, surf, for the positivity.

It's just one of those things. Most days I feel good physically and mentally, and things are going well and I'm optimistic. Then, once in a while, I feel like OH CRAP! I've got cancer!

I also got back test results today of a new biopsy, and it's not good. And, the weather is stormy. And the squirrels are eating fruit from my trees.

I need to go to the gym and listen to some good music. And I will NOT listen to the news.

peterj116 | @peterj116 | 1 day ago

In reply to @bluegill "Thanks, surf, for the positivity. It's just one of those things. Most days I feel good..." + (show)

Welcome to prostate cancer mood swings.
Most days, we don't think about & just get on with life.
But some days (sometimes more than once in a day) we just get dragged down by reminders.

Even 9 months on I still hate the incontinence & bad days really drag me down.
We just have to drag ourselves through the day & hope the day ends soon.
I've gone to bed at 7:30 after a bad day many times, just to make the day end, so I can start fresh the next day.
You're doing better than you think - and you're stronger than you think.
"Helpful" comments from others can just be laughed off.
My favourite one after talking about prostate removal was "That's ok. You've still got another one".
Ummm... what?

bluegill | @bluegill | 22 hours ago

I feel a little better now. I went to the gym and increased the weights a bit.

Also had an early afternoon freshly ground gourmet light roast cup of coffee.

tjv1156 | @tjv1156 | 22 hours ago

In reply to @bluegill "Thanks, surf, for the positivity. It's just one of those things. Most days I feel good..." + (show)

What were the biopsy results?

northoftheborder | @northoftheborder | 21 hours ago

In reply to @bluegill "This Biden thing has really got me down. It seems that lots of people are shocked..." + (show)

I'm sorry to hear that. I have almost exactly what former President Biden has (mCSPC, though I don't know if his is oligometastatic). The background info in some of the news stories is seriously out of date. Our prospects are much better than they were just a few years ago.

The complicating factors for President Biden could be age and overall health, which could preclude him from getting the strongest available treatments.

bluegill | @bluegill | 21 hours ago

The biopsy results are full of words I don't understand, but I do get that 8, 9, and 10 are good scores for a math quiz, but not for Gleason.

So, basically, 5 years ago my prostate was full of cancer. Now, it's full of cancer.

brianjarvis | @brianjarvis | 8 hours ago

In reply to @johndavis60 "Seems odd to me that his cancer would have progressed this far without them knowing. I..." + (show)

It might not be odd at all —> Current USPSTF guidelines recommend against PSA screening after age 70 (https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recommendation/prostate-cancer-screening).

So, it would be interesting to know if his doctors strictly followed current USPSTF guidelines. Did he even have a PSA screening test last year (or even the past decade) as part of his annual health exams?

Also, there is a type of prostate cancer - called neuroendocrine prostate cancer (NEPC) - where the PSA levels are often low or normal, making it difficult to detect using traditional PSA testing. NEPC is an aggressive form of prostate cancer.

Many unanswered questions.

brianjarvis | @brianjarvis | 8 hours ago

In reply to @ava11 "I assume he was being regularly screened for PSA. Still his doctors didn't catch cancer before..." + (show)

It’s possible that he didn’t have regular PSA years. Current USPSTF guidelines recommend against PSA screening after age 70 (https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recommendation/prostate-cancer-screening). So, it would be interesting to know if his doctors strictly followed current USPSTF guidelines. Did he even have a PSA screening test last year (or even the past decade) as part of his annual health exams?

brianjarvis | @brianjarvis | 8 hours ago

In reply to @northoftheborder "Routine PSA screening wasn't the standard recommendation for many years, as a knee-jerk reaction to overtreatment..." + (show)

The issue with PSA testing occurred in 2012 when the US Preventative Services Task Force recommended against routine prostate cancer screening (assigning the screening a “D” recommendation: https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recommendation/prostate-cancer-screening-2012).

That one decision led to many of the advanced cases we see today.

However, due to political pressure, they upgraded that recommendation in 2018 (which is the current guideline). These current USPSTF guidelines recommend against PSA screening after age 70 (https://www.uspreventiveservicestaskforce.org/uspstf/recommendation/prostate-cancer-screening).

Fortunately, few doctors follow this recommendation - except perhaps Presidents’ doctors…..