Biden reviewing treatment options after cancer diagnosis
Gavin Coote: Joe Biden's cancer diagnosis came from a doctor visit last week after the former president reported urinary symptoms. They found a small nodule on his prostate and the cancer has already spread to his bones.
Prof Michael Hofman: The office has told us that he has what's called a grade group 5 prostate cancer. That scoring system sort of goes from 1 to 5. So this is a very serious diagnosis.
Gavin Coote: Professor Michael Hoffman is a nuclear medicine physician at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne. He says while it's a more aggressive type of prostate cancer, there are still treatment options.
Prof Michael Hofman: There's been a lot of progress in the last 15 to 20 years. We now have probably four or five lines of treatment for this particular type of prostate cancer. So that's good, but by the same token, it's not curable and it is a very serious diagnosis and in some people it can cause problems very quickly. This is particularly close to heart for all of us here at Peter Mac because back in 2016, Mr Biden, when he was vice president, actually visited Peter Mac in Melbourne to launch the US Cancer Moonshot initiative. So it's really close to heart. So we wish him and his family all the very best.
Gavin Coote: The former president's office says he and his family are now reviewing treatment options. President Biden left office in January as the oldest serving US president in history and since then has kept a relatively low profile. The cancer diagnosis comes nearly a year after he was forced to abandon his bid for a second presidential term over growing concerns about his health and age. But the former president has continued to face questions about his health in recent months. David Mark is the managing editor of the Washington Examiner magazine.
David Mark: This gets to the real context about these very sad developments is there's this book that's coming out on Tuesday by a couple of Washington, D.C. journalists covering the saga of him being forced out of the race. This is the first time we've heard of any kind of specific health diagnosis about Joe Biden.
Gavin Coote: The soon to be released book, co-written by CNN anchor Jake Tapper and Axios journalist Alex Thompson, alleges a White House cover up of the former president's declining physical and cognitive health. David Greenberg is a professor of history at Rutgers University in New Jersey.
David Greenberg: Above all one feels compassion for Joe Biden. Since Trump's election, if not since Biden dropped out of the race last summer, he's lost a lot of admirers, people who felt he hadn't been straight with the country about his own cognitive abilities and people have blamed him for allowing Trump to return to office.
Gavin Coote: Joe Biden and his family have faced their share of health challenges. In 1988, he suffered two life-threatening brain aneurysms and his son, Beau, died of brain cancer in 2015. David Greenberg thinks the former president's diagnosis will provoke both sympathy and more questions about his health.
David Greenberg: So far as I know there's no direct link or indirect link between the cancer and the issue of cognitive decline. But I think the collective picture it paints is, you know, of a man in his sunset years. And that's one that may continue to provoke some anger from people, but may also provoke a bit of sympathy as well.
Gavin Coote: U.S. President Donald Trump, who has been a fierce critic of Joe Biden, is among those who have put out statements of support following his cancer diagnosis, saying he and Melania are saddened by the news and extend their wishes to his family. President Biden's former vice president, Kamala Harris, posted on social media describing him as a fighter, while Prime Minister Anthony Albanese says he is saddened to hear news of the diagnosis.
Andy Park: Gavin Coote there.
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