Former U.S. President Joe Biden has commenced a five-week regimen of radiation and hormone therapy for an aggressive form of prostate cancer, his spokesperson confirmed. The treatment plan is aimed at managing the cancer, which was diagnosed in May and has spread to his bones.
According to a spokesperson for Mr. Biden, cited by Bloomberg, the former president is “currently undergoing radiation therapy and hormone treatment as part of a treatment plan for prostate cancer.” NBC News previously reported the radiation treatment is expected to span five weeks.
The treatment course is a continuation of care following the initial diagnosis earlier this year. The 82-year-old former president’s office had announced in May that he was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had metastasized, or spread, to his bones. The cancer was also described as hormone-sensitive, a factor that makes it potentially responsive to hormone therapy, which works by inhibiting testosterone from fueling cancer cell growth.
In addition to his prostate cancer treatment, Mr. Biden underwent a separate medical procedure in early September, a Mohs surgery, to remove cancerous cells from his skin.
The American Cancer Society notes that radiation therapy is a common treatment for advanced prostate cancer that has spread to the bones, used to help keep the disease under control for as long as possible and to prevent or relieve symptoms.
The former president’s health has been a public topic of discussion, particularly after his decision to drop out of the presidential race in July 2024 and endorse Vice President Kamala Harris. At the time of his cancer diagnosis announcement in May, Mr. Biden, whose son Beau Biden died of cancer in 2015, acknowledged the personal nature of the disease, stating in a post on X: “Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places.”