Former US President Joe Biden is currently undergoing radiation therapy as part of his treatment for prostate cancer, his spokesman has confirmed.
According to the spokesman, the 82-year-old is also receiving hormone therapy, though no further details were provided. Sources told NBC News that the radiation treatment, which began several weeks ago in Philadelphia, is expected to last about five weeks.
Biden’s office had earlier disclosed in May that he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones. Doctors discovered the illness after he experienced urinary symptoms, which led to the detection of a small nodule on his prostate.
At the time, his office said the cancer was characterised by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) — indicating a high-grade, fast-spreading form of the disease — but added that it remained hormone-sensitive, allowing for effective management.
A person close to the former president told CBS News that Biden is “doing well and responding positively to treatment.”
Biden, who left office in January as the oldest president in US history, has long been an advocate for cancer research. In 2022, he and his wife, Jill Biden, revived the “Cancer Moonshot” initiative aimed at reducing cancer deaths by half before 2047.
The former president lost his eldest son, Beau Biden, to brain cancer in 2015 and has himself been treated for skin cancer twice — in 2023 and again in 2025.
In a recent BBC interview, Biden reflected on his decision to withdraw from the 2024 presidential race, calling it “difficult” but necessary given his health.
Prostate cancer is the second most common cancer among men after skin cancer, according to the American Cancer Society, which notes that 13 in every 100 men in the US will be diagnosed with the disease during their lifetime.
