The office of former President Joe Biden announced on Sunday that he was diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer.
Biden’s office said cancer was diagnosed after “increasing urinary symptoms” and that it has metastasis, spreading to their bones.
The statement added that cancer is “sensitive to hormones”, which can allow effective treatment options, which drill and their family are reviewing.
This is what you should know about prostate cancer, including signs and symptoms, how it is diagnosed and how it is.
President Joe Biden makes a gesture while offering his farewell speech to the Nation from the Oval Office of the White House in Washington, on January 15, 2025.
Mandel ngan/pool through reuters, files
What is prostate cancer?
Prostate cancer is the most common cancer, after skin cancer, diagnosed in American men, according to the American Cancer Society (ACS), the main nation cancer defense organization.
The prostate is under the bladder and in front of the rectum. Most prostate cancers are developed from gland cells in the prostate, which are added to semen, said the ACS.
Diagnostic rates have increased approximately 3% each year since 2014, according to Here.
It is estimated that approximately one in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their life.
ACS estimates that there will be around 313,780 cases of prostate cancer and approximately 35,770 deaths from prostate cancer in 2025.
What are the signs and symptoms?
Early prostate cancer in general It does not cause symptoms But, when symptoms occur, they include problems with urination or blood in the urine or semen, according to ACS.
When prostate cancer was advanced, which means that it has grown or metastasis, it can cause other problems, including erectile dysfunction; weakness or numbness on the legs; loss of bladder or intestinal control; Weight loss; fatigue; Or pain the ribs, hips or column when cancer has spread to the bones, ACS said.
Dr. Maha Hussain, an expert in prostate cancer and Medicine Professor of Genevieve Teuton in the Hematology-Oncology Division of the Northwestern University Faculty of Medicine University in Chicago in Chicago, told ABC News that it is more common that prostate cancer is found through regular annual exams that by occurrence of symptoms.
He added that many symptoms, such as frequent urine or the difficulty in passing urine, may not be due to prostate cancer, but to a enlarged prostate, which is common among older men.
How to evaluate prostate cancer
Prostate cancer can often be found early through Detection testswhich increases the chances of successful treatment.
ACS recommends that men talk to their medical care provider about the decision to detect and have those discussions at 40 or 45 years for those with a high risk and 50 years for those with an average risk.
President Joe Biden addresses the nation from the Rosas de la Casas White Garden in Washington, on November 7, 2024.
Saul Loeb/AFP through Getty Images, files
A detection test implies a blood analysis that measures the level of specific prostate antigens (PSA), which are cell proteins in the prostate gland.
Although there is no cutting level that clearly indicates the presence of cancer, the ACS said that many doctors use a limit of four nanograms per milliliter to recommend more evidence with a urologist.
Dr. Nitin Yerram, co -director of Urological oncology in the John Theurer cancer center at the Medical Center of the University of Hackensack in New Jersey, said that although PSA tests are a good tool, there are also some difficulties.
“Using PSA detection is like using a deck to hammer a small nail, so it is not very precise,” he told ABC News. “And the PSA can be raised by a variety of different reasons, be it inflammation, infection. Cancer is one of them, but [the test] No difference between all those. “
He added: “That said, it is still a great tool, and it is very important that men with a high PSA get more work to help determine why that is high.”
Prostate cancer can also be tested through the digital rectal exam, which is when a doctor inserts a lubricated finger in the rectum to feel potholes or hard areas in the prostate that indicate cancer, according to ACS.
Patients can also undergo a Prostate biopsywhich is when prostate cell samples are studied under a microscope to verify cancer.
He National Cancer Institute These prostate biopsies can be assigned a Gleason score to determine how likely cancer grows and spreads. The score is determined “adding the two degrees of cancer cells that constitute the largest areas of the biopsied tissue sample,” according to NCI.
The Gleason score generally varies from six to 10 with higher scores that indicate a stronger probability of progression. President Biden’s office said he received a Gleason score from nine.
What are the treatment options?
The treatment options for prostate cancer vary according to which stage cancer is located and to what extent it has spread.
“The good news is that, today, we have had a significant improvement in the medical management of prostate cancer that has spread, and there has been a significant extension of life, so there are all kinds of different treatment options available for these patients,” said Hussain.
For prostate cancers that are small or located in the prostate, doctors may recommend Active observation or surveillance To monitor if the symptoms are changing or if cancer is beginning to grow.
President Joe Biden goes out to speak in the Rosas of the White House in Washington, on November 26, 2024.
Ben Curtis/AP, files
Surgery and radiotherapy They are the most common treatments for men who are classified as low or intermediate risk, experts told ABC News.
For men whose cancer is more advanced, chemotherapy or hormonal therapy, the last of which is also known as Androgen deprivation therapy – They are the most common.
“Testosterone, we know, is a driver of prostate cancer, and obviously all men have testosterone,” Yerram said. “And so central to an anti-rogen therapy plan is really to reduce testosterone levels as close as possible to help stop the progression of that prostate cancer and provide treatment.”
“Specifically in President Biden, who is obviously not taking care of, but he has cancer in stage 4, so for him, anti-Androgen therapy or chemotherapy will probably be the first line for him,” Yerram added.
Experts said it is important that prostate cancer patients continue with their doctor after treatment to search for cancer recurrence or side effects of treatment.
What are the survival rates?
For localized or regional cancer, which means that cancer is in the prostate or cancer has spread to nearby structures, there is a five -year survival rate of more than 99%, according to ACS.
For cancers that have spread to other parts of the body, such as lungs, liver or bone, the five -year survival rate is approximately 37%, ACS said.
Hussain said that although metastatic prostate cancer is not curable, it is very treatable and that survival rates have increased in the last three decades.
“We have really traveled a very, very long path in terms of how long patients live,” said Hussain. “When I entered the field, let’s say 1990, the average longevity with metastatic prostate cancer, approximately, was approximately two and a half years. Now. We have more than duplicated that and … we have many men who really live much more in my practice over the years.”
