Pennsylvania doctor breaks down former President Joe Biden's prostate cancer diagnosis
Support is pouring in across party lines for former President Joe Biden, who revealed Sunday he's battling aggressive prostate cancer.
Doctors are optimistic about the prognosis for the 82-year-old. The former president's office said the cancer was diagnosed Friday, the news was released Sunday and then Monday morning, Biden posted on social media.
"Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places," Biden wrote on social media. "Thank you for lifting us up with love and support."
"We are seeing rises in certain subtypes," Dr. Erik Zeger, an oncologist with Main Line Health, said. "We're seeing a lot of young patients with colorectal cancer that's clearly rising in the past 20 years."
A statement from Biden's office said he had urinary symptoms and was subsequently diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread to the bone.
"That bone involvement can lead to, in some patients, pain [and] fractures," Zeger said.
Zeger said that because Biden's cancer is hormone sensitive, it's usually treated with medications to block testosterone that fuels the cancer, but that therapy has its own issues.
"The side effects of hot flashes, fatigue, memory loss are real, but the treatment can work for quite some time," Zeger said.
Additional treatment options could include radiation and chemotherapy.
The American Cancer Society says more than 313,000 new cases of prostate cancer will be diagnosed in the U.S. this year, and more than 35,000 men will die.
The former president and his family are reviewing treatment options with physicians.
"Many men can live for an excess of five years with stage 4 prostate cancer, about 30% will live beyond five years," Zeger said.
Doctors say Biden's cancer probably spread because it was not detected early. He's 82 years old. Prostate screenings that include PSA blood tests and a physical exam are not recommended for men past the age of 70.
Fighting cancer has been a personal mission for Biden. He launched the national Cancer Moonshot initiative in Philadelphia, calling for more research. It was inspired in large part by his late son, Beau, who died of brain cancer.
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