Joe Biden gives major health update after ‘debilitating’ prostate cancer spreads

Joe Biden says radiation treatment for his prostate cancer ‘worked as intended,’ weeks after his son Hunter admitted the disease had spread to his bones and was leaving the former president in ‘debilitating’ pain.

‘I am deeply grateful to the doctors, nurses and other medical professionals who helped to control my cancer and who continue to take such good care of me. Their skill, dedication, and compassion mean so much,’ Biden said Tuesday on X. 

‘The radiation treatment from last fall worked as intended, and I continue to do the things I care about, like finishing my memoir,’ he added. 

The 83-year-old released the statement to mark September’s Prostate Cancer Awareness Month.

It is his first word on his own health since Hunter Biden told the BBC last month that the cancer had ‘metastasized into his bones and further’ and was ‘very painful’ and ‘very debilitating in many respects.’

Hunter said he wished his father ‘would complain more, because it’s not good.’

Biden’s office revealed in May 2025, less than four months after he left the White House, that he had been diagnosed with an ‘aggressive’ form of prostate cancer.

He had surgery for skin cancer last September and began radiation and hormone treatment for the prostate cancer the following month.

Joe Biden says radiation treatment for his prostate cancer ‘worked as intended’, weeks after his son Hunter admitted the disease was leaving the former president in ‘debilitating’ pain

Hunter told the BBC in August said he wished his father ‘would complain more’ about his cancer ‘because it’s not good’

Biden pictured above with former First Lady Jill Biden 

Jill Biden told NBC in June that her husband will live with cancer for the rest of his life.

‘I think if he had just been diagnosed with prostate cancer, that’s one thing because that can be cured, but the fact that it metastasized to his bones, that makes it a whole different story,’ she said in June.

‘So I think Joe will live with cancer till the rest of his life.’

Biden was the oldest man to serve as US president and his age was a source of concern for much of his entire term.  

Earlier this year, former Biden White House officials expressed concern that their former boss was showing signs of strain from the cancer treatment.

The former officials and an elected Democrat told The Washington Post in February that Biden times appeared more fatigued in private interactions since announcing his health issues.

He and his White House advisers have faced intense criticism for allegedly concealing the extent of his health problems. 

In July 2024, he was forced to abandon his bid for re-election after a disastrous debate with his eventual successor, Donald Trump.

Jill had said in June that she believed her husband would live with cancer the rest of his life 

‘It’s really sad to watch,’ Hunter said. ‘The only thing that I’d say about my dad, about his health right now, is I wish he would complain more, because it’s not good’

However, Biden plans to publish his memoir, Promise Me, America, after the midterm elections in November. 

Jill released her book, View from the East Wing, in June where she wrote about her private fear that her husband was having a stroke during the 2024 debate.