Former U.S. President Joe Biden is now receiving a combined course of radiation therapy and hormone treatment as part of his fight against an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones, his office confirmed on October 11, 2025.
His team says the cancer is hormone-sensitive, which raises the likelihood of an effective response. This new phase begins months after his initial diagnosis in May 2025.
Radiation therapy marks a deepening of Biden’s treatment regimen. According to his spokesperson, the radiation component is expected to last about five weeks and will complement the oral hormone therapy he has already been taking.
This move comes after Biden disclosed in May that he had an aggressive prostate cancer diagnosis—metastatic, meaning it had already reached his bones. At that time, his office described the illness as “hormone-sensitive,” suggesting it might respond well to standard systemic approaches.
In September, he also underwent Mohs surgery—a precise skin cancer removal procedure—after a lesion was discovered on his forehead. His spokesperson stated that the surgery went smoothly and he is recovering well.
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Biden first announced his cancer diagnosis in mid-May, following urinary symptoms. His team assigned the cancer a Gleason score of 9, one of the highest risk grades on that scale. The diagnosis raised questions because Biden reportedly hadn’t had a PSA (prostate-specific antigen) test in over a decade. Experts said that in older men, routine PSA screening is often reduced or discontinued, partly because the test becomes less informative with age.
At the time of his announcement, Biden shared on X that “Cancer touches us all. Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places.” In late May, at a Memorial Day event, he told reporters, “Well, the prognosis is good … we’re working on everything … it’s moving along. So, I feel good.”
Physicians outside his team have cautioned that while treatment can manage advanced prostate cancer, it is generally not considered curable once it has metastasized.
Biden, who turns 83 next month, left the presidency in January 2025 after withdrawing from the 2024 race. His health had been under scrutiny during his presidency and especially during his final campaign. In 2023, while still in office, he had a basal cell carcinoma removed from his chest; doctors determined no further treatment was needed at the time. Biden’s medical team will monitor how his cancer responds to the combined hormone and radiation treatment. Future imaging and tests will likely guide adjustments in dosing or therapy.