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Biden will be here soon: Former President metastatic prostate cancer
"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.
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different rules for the President of the US. It is the same for women and pelvic exams but you can continue to request them.
He seemed averse to taking tests. (the infamous "Why the hell would I take a test? C'mon, man".
Exactly. It was such a wrong-headed response. If there's a risk of overtreatment, change the *treatment* guidelines, not the *screening* guidelines (and in fact, treatment guidelines have changed dramatically since 2012, essentially nullifying the concerns at the time).
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1 ReactionIt would be a pretty normal path. Maybe he had trouble peeing, then they detected elevated PSA, and tried ADT to see if it worked, then maybe scheduled some imaging (especially if there was bone pain). Since he's 82, they would have gone at it more lightly than they did with me when I was diagnosed at 56. But I went from not knowing I had prostate cancer to learning it was castrate-sensitive in a month, for whatever that's worth.
We really don't need to dig for a conspiracy here. I don't ask any of you whether you're Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Libertarians, Socialists, or members of the Undecided Cow Party (yes, it exists). We're all here in this forum because we're living with prostate cancer or supporting someone who is. President Biden doesn't have to share in detail what his journey's been like the past couple of months — we all know how traumatic the first months are — but if he ever chooses to, I know we'll be as supportive as we are for any other prostate cancer patient.
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1 ReactionI had a full physical in late 2020, PSA was 2.0 and otherwise very healthy. 16 months later, around July 2022 I was diagnosed with denovo high volume metastatic prostate cancer - bone only. I feared prostate cancer because a friend at church became metastatic at 53 and he urged me to get my prostate checked. At that point I got my PSA checked about every year.
The idea that it takes 10 years for this cancer to grow and become metastatic is just not true for every male. Something in my body caused what seemed to be a cytokine storm that advanced the cancer. The only events in my life that occurred prior were 3 COVID shots, which made me very sick and catching COVID. My prostate cancer symptoms came 3 days after I had COVID.
My understanding is that Biden has recently admitted to not having a PSA check since 2014. Plenty of time for cancer to grow.
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2 ReactionsDREs and PSA screening are not standard recommended treatments above the age of 70 or 75 (depending on where you live). Should they be? In many cases, I think yes. But really, this isn't the place for political conspiracy theories. We're all dealing with prostate cancer, either as patients or as caregivers, and that's what we're here to talk about.
report says he had not had a test since 2014.
We will likely see some ramifications from a high profile man getting this, such as delays in testing and treatments from the volume of requests. Probably more goods than bad.
Definitely good. It's the best publicity PSA tests have ever had.