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Biden will be here soon: Former President metastatic prostate cancer

Posted by peterj116 @peterj116, 3 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.

topf | @topf | 9 hours ago

There is no conspiracy and no cover-up simply because the public did not have an inherent right to know. That said, the screwed up the messaging. You cannot determine if the cancer is castrate resistant in two days. They were probably concerned about the optics when saying that Biden had been diagnosed weeks or months ago.

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northoftheborder | @northoftheborder | 8 hours ago
In reply to @retireditguy "My older brother got aggressive PCa around age 50. Consequently, I got the "get your psa..." + (show)
@retireditguy

My older brother got aggressive PCa around age 50. Consequently, I got the "get your psa test every year" talk from him back then and that's how I found mine before it got out of the prostate (even though I had both cribriform and IDC). Since I've been diagnosed, I've spoken with several of my friends and the general response is they're pretty ignorant of PCa and aren't even sure if they're getting a psa test during routine blood work. I certainly don't know, but I strongly suspect unless Biden had someone in his circle who had prostate cancer, he probably was just like everyone else; generally ignorant of it and just assuming their doctor was doing whatever was needed at annual physicals. Since it's now been revealed his last psa test was in 2014, it seems his providers were following the "stop testing over 70" guideline. Frankly, without my brothers experience I suspect I'd have done the same. Let's hope Bidens story helps generate more awareness of the changes needed going forward.

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Very helpful. And a periodic reminder that prostate cancer doesn't hit every group equally. If you're Black, you should probably start PSA testing much earlier, even around age 40, because it hits people with African ancestry earlier and harder. The previous PSA screening guidelines (before 2012) were based on studying groups made up primarily of white people like me, and Black participants often got lost in the statistical aggregation.

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northoftheborder | @northoftheborder | 8 hours ago
In reply to @sundancerdb78 "Peter I understand what you are saying about it being intrusive! But how simple is a..." + (show)
@sundancerdb78

Peter I understand what you are saying about it being intrusive! But how simple is a PSA Test? I had not been checked in several years! I just wanted to ease my mind! I had gone through Stage IV colon cancer 25 years ago, so cancer is always on my mind!
Don't you think a simple PSA Test would have caught Biden's cancer long before it got worse!
Thanks,
Sundance, aka, RB

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"Don't you think a simple PSA Test would have caught Biden's cancer long before it got worse!"

Yes, it might have, although the aggressive type of prostate cancer can develop and spread to bones so fast that it sometimes happens between annual PSA tests (as was the case with one of my hospital roommates).

Still, PSA screening is very simple, cheap, and non-invasive blood test (it's not like they have to more-or-less crush a sensitive part of our body in a vice, as happens with women getting mammograms), so there's no excuse for the 2012 recommendation to stop or delay PSA screening. As I wrote earlier, if the problem was overtreatment, then just stop overtreating.

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ecurb | @ecurb | 8 hours ago
In reply to @northoftheborder "The political conspiracy theories I mentioned were speculating on so-called "coverups" in President Biden's medical history...." + (show)
@northoftheborder

The political conspiracy theories I mentioned were speculating on so-called "coverups" in President Biden's medical history. This forum isn't the place for partisan political bickering (there's plenty of that in social media like Twitter-X and Facebook, if people feel the need).

On the other hand, the reduction in PSA screening and subsequent surge in de-novo cases of metastatic prostate cancer are, as you rightly mention, documented facts that have affected many of us here in the forum. 😢

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My wife also pointed out that they stop doing PAP smears real early too in a woman’s life- that can add up to Cervical Cancer she told me. Ditto for PCa screening.

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peterj116 | @peterj116 | 5 hours ago
In reply to @sundancerdb78 "Peter I understand what you are saying about it being intrusive! But how simple is a..." + (show)
@sundancerdb78

Peter I understand what you are saying about it being intrusive! But how simple is a PSA Test? I had not been checked in several years! I just wanted to ease my mind! I had gone through Stage IV colon cancer 25 years ago, so cancer is always on my mind!
Don't you think a simple PSA Test would have caught Biden's cancer long before it got worse!
Thanks,
Sundance, aka, RB

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Just mind-reading here, but I don't think they're concerned about a blood test so much as the can of worms it could open if the result isn't good.

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1 reply
kenshabby | @kenshabby | 4 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)
@northoftheborder

Routine PSA screening wasn't the standard recommendation for many years, as a knee-jerk reaction to overtreatment of low-grade PCa 20+ years ago. I've still had smug jerks explaining to me online why it isn't necessary, based probably an outdated example from their intro stats class. 😕

Fortunately, many doctors kept ordering the test anyway, and now the recommendation is starting to shift back after the predictably-disastrous consequences.

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Of all the frustrating arguments you can have online, this is one of them. It’s just beyond comprehension that a doctor would recommend skipping a PSA test.

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ava11 | @ava11 | 4 hours ago
In reply to @peterj116 "Just mind-reading here, but I don't think they're concerned about a blood test so much as..." + (show)
@peterj116

Just mind-reading here, but I don't think they're concerned about a blood test so much as the can of worms it could open if the result isn't good.

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That is certainly a possible reason if he makes his political future is more important than his prostate health!

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