As Legacy Project Takes on New Significance, Joe Biden Faces Aggressive Cancer Diagnosis
Washington, D.C. Former President Joe Biden, at 81, is well familiar with personal tragedy as well as national struggles. But now, after being diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones, he confronts an extremely intimate fight affecting millions of others.
A clinic visit for urine symptoms—a frequent but sometimes ignored warning sign—followed the diagnosis. What physicians found was significantly more serious: a high-grade malignancy verified by a Gleason score of 9—a figure indicating fast growth and higher likelihood of bodily spread.
Metastatic, or cancer that has spread beyond the prostate, defines Biden’s condition. Treatment choices currently center on illness slowing rather than cure. Along with chemotherapy or clinical trials, doctors could advise hormone therapy to lower hormones promoting cancer. Although they can alleviate symptoms and prolong life, these treatments seldom eradicate the cancer completely.
Doug and I are saddened to learn of President Biden’s prostate cancer diagnosis. We are keeping him, Dr. Biden, and their entire family in our hearts and prayers during this time. Joe is a fighter — and I know he will face this challenge with the same strength, resilience, and… pic.twitter.com/gG5nB0GMPp
— Kamala Harris (@KamalaHarris) May 18, 2025
This most recent health event gives a program Biden has supported for years—the Cancer Moonshot—new urgency and meaning.
Started in 2016 following the passing of his son, Beau Biden, the Moonshot project sought to hasten cancer research, prevention, and treatment progress. President Biden restarted the initiative in 2022 with a daring new goal: reducing the cancer death rate in half over the following 25 years.
Since then, the initiative has helped support over 250 research projects and dozens of initiatives around the U.S., pouring hundreds of millions of dollars toward next-generation cancer solutions. Now, as Biden deals with his own diagnosis, that goal becomes even more personally relevant.
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Experts in medicine estimate that roughly one in three individuals with metastatic prostate cancer live beyond five years. The road ahead for Biden will be formed not only by science but also by the same strength he has leaned on throughout previous trials: the loss of family, the burden of office, and a long public life founded on tenacity.
He and his family are anticipated to consider medical options in the coming weeks even as they carry on with his administration’s duties. For many observers, though, this is a depressing reminder of how disease may affect even the most powerful and why the battle against cancer still merits being pursued.
