Former U.S. President Joe Biden is undergoing a five-week course of external-beam radiation alongside ongoing hormone therapy to treat an aggressive prostate cancer that his office said in May had metastasized to bone, according to statements released this weekend by his spokesperson and reported by multiple outlets. The spokesperson described the disease as hormone-sensitive, a clinical detail that doctors say generally predicts a meaningful response to androgen-deprivation drugs used in combination with targeted radiation. Biden, 82, began the radiation phase “a few weeks ago” and is being treated in the Philadelphia area, people familiar with his care told CBS News.
The announcement formalizes what aides first disclosed in May: that imaging and pathology had identified an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer with a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) and evidence of spread to the skeleton. At that time, Biden told reporters he felt “good” and was “optimistic,” and his office emphasized that the tumor remained responsive to hormone-blocking medication, a cornerstone of therapy in advanced disease. Saturday’s update adds the radiation component—typically delivered daily over several weeks—to the regimen.
Reuters reported that Biden’s team characterized the illness as aggressive but manageable, noting that the hormone-sensitive biology allows treatments to suppress growth even after the cancer reaches bone. The wire also noted that Biden underwent Mohs surgery in September to remove cancerous skin cells, a procedure that is unrelated to prostate cancer but common in older adults with sun-damaged skin. AP’s account likewise cited the new radiation course and the earlier hormone therapy, framing the plan as a standard sequence for high-risk or metastatic, hormone-sensitive prostate cancer.
ABC News, citing Biden’s spokesperson, said the former president began taking a first-line hormone drug in pill form after the diagnosis was made public in May and has now progressed to the radiation phase at a regional cancer center. The network’s report reiterated clinical details originally released by Biden’s office: a Gleason score of 9, the highest routine grade on the scale pathologists use to describe how abnormal the cells look compared with healthy tissue, and confirmation that the malignancy had spread to bone. Those findings place the case in a highest-risk category that oncologists still regard as treatable when the tumor responds to hormone blockade.
The Guardian said the five-week radiation plan is being delivered concurrently with hormone therapy and reported that Biden “expressed optimism about his prognosis,” echoing comments he made in May when he said, “the prognosis is good.” The paper placed the update in the context of his post-White House life in Delaware and noted his Mohs procedure the previous month. CBS News, citing people close to Biden, reported he is “doing well and responding to treatment,” and that the radiation course began several weeks ago
Biden’s diagnosis followed evaluation for urinary symptoms earlier this year, according to AP and Fox News accounts of the medical timeline. His office said in May that a small nodule in the prostate prompted further testing, culminating in a biopsy that confirmed high-grade cancer and subsequent imaging that revealed metastasis to bone. Reuters’ explainer on prostate cancer summarized the implications of such a finding: spread to bone is common in advanced cases, but hormone-sensitive disease often responds to systemic androgen-deprivation therapy, which can be augmented by radiation to sites of tumor or to the prostate bed depending on clinical strategy.
The course of treatment described by the spokesperson aligns with current practice for metastatic, hormone-sensitive disease: a backbone of hormone therapy—now frequently given as oral agents or depot injections—combined in many cases with targeted radiation to control symptoms, reduce tumor burden and, in selected settings, improve progression-free survival. While Biden’s team has not provided a drug list, news outlets quoting the spokesperson have referred broadly to “hormone treatment,” a term that can encompass androgen-deprivation medicines and next-generation androgen-receptor inhibitors. The addition of radiation is typically scheduled as a daily outpatient therapy over multiple weeks.
In May, independent medical experts interviewed by Reuters and Newsweek explained that a Gleason score of 9 signifies highly aggressive prostate cancer, with microscopic patterns that diverge markedly from normal glands and a heightened propensity to grow and spread. Yet both outlets emphasized that aggressiveness at the cellular level does not preclude a meaningful response to therapy when the tumor remains driven by androgens and is therefore susceptible to hormone blockade. Biden’s office underscored that point in May, describing the cancer as “hormone-sensitive.”
Public updates about Biden’s health have arrived in a changed political context. He left office in January 2025 and disclosed the diagnosis months later, having already stepped back from most public appearances. The latest statement focused narrowly on medical facts and did not describe limitations on his day-to-day routine beyond the demands of daily radiation. CBS News reported that he is being treated in Philadelphia; ABC News said he remains “optimistic,” a characterization consistent with his remarks earlier this year.
International coverage mirrored the U.S. reports. Germany’s Welt, citing Biden adviser Kelly Scully, told readers he was in a combined radiation-and-hormone protocol for prostate cancer, reiterating that the disease was aggressive but treatable. Local television stations in the U.S., drawing on national wires, underlined the planned duration of radiation—about five weeks—and restated that hormone therapy had already been initiated. Newsweek’s weekend brief likewise said Biden had “begun a five-week course of radiation therapy” as part of the existing plan.
AP and Reuters both noted a recent, separate dermatologic intervention: Mohs micrographic surgery on Biden’s forehead in September to remove skin cancer. Such procedures are typically done under local anesthesia on an outpatient basis and are unrelated to prostate cancer. Reports did not indicate any complications, and the mention appeared as part of a broader tally of recent health events for a public figure whose medical history has been widely scrutinized for years.
The Friday-to-Saturday spate of updates did not include a physician of record, a detailed radiation field map or a staging notation beyond the May disclosure of bone involvement. Instead, the messaging concentrated on the elements most relevant to the public: the start of radiation, the continuation of hormone therapy and the clinical framing that the tumor biology remains susceptible to those interventions. In May, ABC quoted Biden as saying of the initial drug plan, “It’s all a matter of taking a pill … for the next six weeks and then another one,” a lay description that tracked with the first phase of systemic therapy now being paired with radiation.
Major outlets have also reminded audiences that prostate cancer is common—more than 300,000 U.S. cases expected this year—and that even high-risk disease can be managed for extended periods, particularly when it responds to hormone therapy. AP said Biden’s cancer had been discovered after urinary symptoms prompted evaluation, a route that clinicians say is typical for late-detected cases in older men who may not be in routine screening programs. News reports emphasized, too, that the biology described by the spokesperson—“hormone-sensitive”—is a favorable feature compared with hormone-refractory tumors that require different systemic regimens.
As Biden entered the radiation phase, his representatives kept the tone spare, avoiding prognostic claims beyond the stated optimism and not specifying whether the radiation is directed to the prostate bed, selected bone lesions, or both. CBS said those close to him described him as “doing well and responding to treatment,” a formulation that suggests tolerability of the regimen to date. The Guardian placed the news alongside routine biographical markers—his age, his residence in Delaware, the timing of his next birthday—without additional detail about side effects, which can include fatigue, urinary irritation and bowel changes during the course of pelvic radiation. (CBS News)
The weekend’s disclosures also served to consolidate a timeline that had, since May, consisted of scattered remarks from Biden and sparse written updates from his office. The sequence now in public view is straightforward: diagnosis in May of high-grade, bone-metastatic, hormone-sensitive prostate cancer; initiation of hormone therapy soon thereafter; dermatologic Mohs surgery in September for a separate skin cancer; and the start of a five-week radiation course in early autumn while hormone therapy continues. ABC, CBS, AP and Reuters each reported those milestones with attribution to the spokesperson or people familiar with Biden’s care.
Absent from the updates were any references to hospitalization, emergency interventions or interruptions to the treatment plan, details that would typically appear in public-figure medical bulletins if they occurred. Instead, the picture offered by aides and reflected in coverage is of a standard outpatient regimen for a high-risk case that retains sensitivity to hormonal control, paired with a localized radiation plan delivered over weekdays for approximately five weeks. The reporting broadly characterized the clinical aim as disease control and symptom mitigation rather than cure, a distinction common in metastatic settings even when responses are robust and can be sustained.
For a figure whose health has been scrutinized through years in high office, the current communications posture is circumscribed: disclose the existence and stage of the disease, describe the modalities being used, and avoid speculation about long-term outcomes. That approach has left space for clinical context from outside experts quoted by news organizations since May, who have stressed that hormone-sensitive, bone-metastatic prostate cancer can often be held in check for prolonged intervals with modern systemic agents and adjunctive radiation. Saturday’s confirmation that radiation is under way closes the loop on the plan outlined in the spring, and sets a near-term horizon for completion of this phase of therapy.
Biden, who will turn 83 next month, has kept a low public profile since leaving office in January. In May he spoke in broad, upbeat terms about the diagnosis—“we’re working on everything … I feel good”—and those close to him have continued to describe his outlook as positive as the regimen has progressed. With radiation now in motion and hormone therapy ongoing, further updates are expected to come through his spokesperson rather than through medical briefings, in keeping with the spare disclosures that have accompanied each step so far.