President Biden has been diagnosed with aggressive form of prostate cancer.

Sparkchaser

This is not political
Former president Biden has been diagnosed with aggressive form of prostate cancer.
Given his age and diagnosis, this would seem a death sentence. 🙁

https://www.bbc.com/news/articles/cwywqg7lq1zo

Stembolt

Joe Biden Diagnosed With “Aggressive Form” of Prostate Cancer

Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, his office said Sunday.

He was diagnosed with prostate cancer on Friday, with the cancer cells having spread 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,” his office said.

HFB1217

Stembolt

Sorry to hear he has Cancer and this is not indicating a political view but if he had won the election we would most likely be having our First Female President by Default.

This is a statement of Constitutional Facts Only and not to be taken as an endorsement of any candidates or party

HFB1217

For Edification of ALL
Any and All Political Commentary in actuality, reference, inference or innuendo
Will be DELETED without exception. It also includes Linking of the same.

HooRU

OH Joe. I, too have cancer but it’s managed.

Bombtrad

Sparkchaser Given his age and diagnosis, this would seem a death sentence.

Certainly cannot agree, I am 83 years old, 17 years with prostate cancer.

Initial PSA 98, Gleeson score 8, most aggressive. Brachytherapy followed by intensive radio therapy immediately after, now I take a quarterly injection, that hurts like hell. BUT I am still here.

Don’t write him off that quickly.

Stembolt the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management,”

damn right.

Astyanax

…and he and his doctors learned of all of this just this Friday two days ago. 🤨

px_eliezer_

Astyanax

The diagnosis of prostate cancer may well have been known, but it’s pretty common in his age group, and most of the cases can advance slowly over several years even without treatment.

In fact, MANY men are not given treatment, merely watched.

In some uncommon cases, it can get very bad very quickly. That may be what happened here.

Prostate cancer is the second-most common cancer in the U.S., exceeded only by breast cancer. About one-eighth of U.S. men are diagnosed with prostate cancer at a median age of 67 according to the National Cancer Institute.

Most patients have slow-growing, localized tumors, confined to the prostate gland, that are unlikely to threaten their lives. Instead of immediate treatment, these low-risk patients can be monitored through “active surveillance,” in which examinations and tests are performed on a regular schedule to make sure the disease is not progressing.

https://www.cedars-sinai.org/newsroom/study-older-adult-prostate-cancer-patients-are-increasingly-being-overtreated/

HFB1217

What is Brachytherapy
It is a procedure that places radioactive material inside the body in this case the Prostate Gland, to treat Prostate cancer

Bombtrad

HFB1217 What is Brachytherapy
It is a procedure that places radioactive material inside the body in this case the Prostate Gland, to treat Prostate cancer

For mine they surrounded the prostate gland with a “fence” of some 10 needles mildly short term radioactive and then with a beam shot at the “fence” . The beam ricocheted around inside the fence ensuring that the gland was truly showered. Shooting the beam without the fence would have been a waste of time as it would only have hit one point. not the whole gland.

At least thatr was what my oncologist told me as they prepared mt to have the needles inserted, they are still there today.

Dks01

It has metastasized. That generally means the options are care and comfort.

px_eliezer_

Bob Dole still ran for president in 1996 after his (prostate cancer) diagnosis.
John Kerry was already running for president in late 2003 when he announced that he would undergo surgery for prostate cancer.

https://www.cancerhealth.com/slideshow/famous-men-who-prove-theres-life-after-prostate-cancer/2

Dwight Eisenhower had a big heart attack in 1955 but won re-election in 1956.

GrumpyCanadian

Dks01 One expert interviewed by the CBC said that, given the late stage and the fact that it has metastastised, there is no hope for curing it, only management. He said that, since it is still somewhat manageable, they should be able to expect about one to two years of life yet; maybe up to five in cases where management of the condition goes really well.

JRB-Ware

Astyanax and he and his doctors learned of all of this just this Friday two days ago. 🤨

That’s what I was thinking.

real_aurgathor

Astyanax
JRB-Ware

The doctors most likely discovered this a few days ago, or maybe up to a week or two earlier, but much more than that is *exceedingly* unlikely. Bad findings like this needs to be confirmed to be absolutely certain, but other than that, there wasn’t much of a reason to delay this announcement for a long time. Since the announcement specifically mentioned “aggressive form”, meaning fast spreading, this likely became detectable fairly recently.

Dks01

GrumpyCanadian That is what I would expect. That’s what care and comfort means. Welcome to reality.

Wolf_Barron

I have an elevated PSA and just saw my urologist this morning for a routine quarterly followup. Fortunately I do not have cancer. I have BPH which is a benign condition which can also raise PSA. When seeing my doctor this morning I asked him what he thought about the former president’s condition. He said that even the most aggressive forms of prostate cancer take years to spread to the bone. Significant changes in PSA readings are used to screen for it’s existence and how fast it is growing. My doctor said that he has never seen a case that went from zero to spreading elsewhere in the body in a year or less and that it would be incredibly unlikely. It’s virtually unheard of. Men with prostate cancer have an elevated PSA long before the cancer becomes dominant.

The question is did the former president have his PSA tested at his last physical over a year ago? If his doctor did not order a test for a disease that is so easy to screen for then I would find that unethical. If he did have a test that revealed his elevated PSA then he should have been on active surveillance which includes MRIs and biopsies. If those tests were not ordered by his doctor then that would be unethical. If all of this was known and being followed yet not reported then that is a problem for someone who was / could potentially be the leader of the free world.

There are a lot of public questions and discussions around these points right now. I’ve read several reports from experts that he probably had cancer for years while in office. I’m not linking to anything lest someone deem it to be “political”.

Wolf_Barron

Dks01 It has metastasized. That generally means the options are care and comfort

Nope. That’s outdated thinking. Prostate cancer treatment has advanced significantly in the last five years. I know someone who had his prostate removed 10 years ago after the cancer had spread elsewhere in his body and he is receiving advanced treatments and still alive and well today. One in seven men contract prostate cancer and its treatments have advanced significantly. It is more likely now that a man with prostate cancer will die with his cancer rather than from his cancer.