Joe Biden is once again under the spotlight over concerns about his health after a past speaking mistake from 2022 re-emerged, coinciding with his recent diagnosis of “aggressive” prostate cancer.
The former president, 82, claimed to have had cancer in a public speech three years ago sparking fears for his health.
Biden’s comments came during a speech about “cancer-causing” emissions from oil refineries near his childhood home in Delaware.
In the slip-up, he remarked, “That’s why I and so damn many other people I grew up with have cancer, and why for the longest time, Delaware had the highest cancer rate in the nation.”
Biden’s use of the present tense led to speculations that the president was suffering from cancer.
But these were dismissed after it was suggested that the comments were a reference to “non-melanoma skin cancers”.
Before assuming the presidency, Biden had a number of “localized, non-melanoma skin cancers” removed by surgery.
In November 2021, Biden had a polyp removed from his colon that was a benign, but potentially pre-cancerous lesion.
And in February 2023, he had a skin lesion removed from his chest that was a basal cell carcinoma, a common form of skin cancer.
Non-melanoma skin cancer generally forms in parts of the body frequently exposed to sunlight, such as the face, ears, hands, shoulders, upper chest, and back.
But Biden is now facing fresh scrutiny over his cancer comments following the announcement of his cancer diagnosis on Sunday.
This comes as Donald Trump took a swipe at his predecessor and said he was “surprised” the public wasn’t told long ago about Biden’s cancer.
The US President cast doubt on the timeline of Biden’s diagnosis on Monday as he said it usually takes a “long time” to reach such an aggressive stage of cancer.
Trump was backed up by a leading oncologist who claimed that the former president likely had cancer when he took office in 2021.
Dr Zeke Emanuel said: “He had it while he was President.
“He probably had it at the start of his presidency, in 2021.”
How could prostate cancer be missed?
By Sam Blanchard
It is likely that Joe Biden’s cancer started while he was still serving as president – as recently as January – but impossible to know how long he has had it.
Prostate cancer is widely regarded as the slowest growing form of cancer because it can take years for any sign of it to appear and many men never need treatment.
The former president’s office said his cancer is aggressive and has spread to his bones, further confusing the timeline.
PSA blood tests could indicate whether a patient is likely to have cancer but they become less accurate with age, and gold-standard tests involve taking biopsy tissue samples.
There is no guarantee that Mr Biden, 82, was tested during his presidency and, even if he was, the cancer is not certain to have been detected. It may have first formed a long time ago and only recently become aggressive, or started recently and grown very quickly.
Most cancers are found before they spread but a fast-growing one may be harder to catch in time.
Prostate cancers are well-known for not causing many symptoms in the early stages and the NHS says “there may be no signs for many years”.
The time it takes for a cancer to progress to stage four – known as metastatic, when it has spread to another body part – can vary from a number of months to many years.
Professor Suneil Jain, from Queen’s University Belfast, said: “Every prostate cancer is different and no-one from outside his direct team will have all the information to be specific about President Biden’s specific diagnosis or situation.
“In recent years there has been a lot of progress in the management of prostate cancer, with many new therapies becoming available.
“This has significantly extended the average life expectancy by a number of years.”
Prostate cancer is the most common form of cancer in males and one in eight men develop it at some stage in their life.
Biden announced his cancer diagnosis in an official statement from his personal office on Sunday.
The statement said that he was seen by doctors last week after suffering urinary symptoms, with a prostate nodule then being found.
He was then diagnosed with prostate cancer on Friday, with the cancer cells having spread to the bone.
The statement read: “Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms.
“On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone.
“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management.
“The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”
A Gleason score of 9 means the cancerous cells “look very abnormal” and that the disease is “likely to grow quickly”, according to Cancer Research UK.
Biden served as US president from 2021 to 2025, with his term ending on January 20 when Donald Trump took office.
What are the symptoms every man needs to know?
In most cases, prostate cancer doesn’t have any symptoms until the growth is big enough to put pressure on the urethra – that tube you pee through.
Symptoms include:
- Needing to urinate more often, especially at night
- Needing to rush to the toilet
- Difficulty in starting to pee
- Weak flow
- Straining and taking a long time while peeing
- Feeling that your bladder hasn’t emptied fully
Many men’s prostates get larger as they age because of the non-cancerous conditions, prostate enlargement, and benign prostatic hyperplasia.
In fact, these two conditions are more common than prostate cancer – but that doesn’t mean the symptoms should be ignored.
The signs that cancer has SPREAD include bone, back, or testicular pain, loss of appetite, and unexplained weight loss.
