Biden's Cancer Diagnosis Is Not Unheard Of, Doctor Says, As Questions About His Health While At The White House Mount

Former President Joe Biden's cancer diagnosis, at an advanced stage and already metastasized, raised questions about how long he's had the disease.

Biden's office confirmed on Sunday that he has been diagnosed with Stage 4 metastatic prostate cancer. The diagnosis is being described as an aggressive form of the disease, with a Gleason score of 9 and Grade Group 5–indicating that it has already spread to the bones.

Different doctors have said the former president has had cancer for several years, including while at the White House. President Donald Trump said the diagnosis was "very sad" before arguing that "somebody is not telling the facts" considering its advanced stage.

However, multiple oncologists said the possibility Biden was diagnosed for the first time with the cancer already at a late stage is not unheard of, NBC News reported. Concretely, 8% of all prostate cancer cases are diagnosed when it has already metastasized, meaning the patient has lived with the disease for years before becoming aware of it.

Dr. William Dahut, chief scientific officer for the American Cancer Society, said "we definitely would anticipate he has had prostate cancer for many, many years." However, added Dr. Alon Weizer, a urologist and chief medical officer of Mount Sinai Medical Center, while "most prostate cancers are slow-going," some people "can develop a high-risk cancer that happens relatively quickly and can spread quickly."

"Is that super common? No. But it can occur and it all depends on the underlying biology of that individual cancer," he said.

The outlet noted that screenings help with early detection but some doctors don't do it with men in their late 70s and 80s considering they are likely to die of a cause different than prostate cancer. The American Cancer Society recommends men in their 50s and 60s get screenings every two years.