"Cancer touches us all": Biden shares post after cancer diagnosis

[BumRushDaShow]

Source: Axios

2 hours ago



Screenshot: @JoeBiden/X


Former President Joe Biden thanked his followers for their support in a Monday social media post after his office confirmed Sunday he has been diagnosed with an "aggressive" form of prostate cancer.

The big picture: The news of Biden's cancer diagnosis was met with a bipartisan outpouring of support as his personal office said he and his family are "reviewing treatment options with his physicians."

According to his office, the cancer is "characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5)," citing a grading system used for prostate cancer, "with metastasis to the bone."

Driving the news: Sharing a selfie with former first lady Jill Biden and their cat, Willow, the former president wrote, "Cancer touches us all."

He continued, "Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support."

Zoom out: Biden was diagnosed on Friday after doctors discovered a "prostate nodule."

Read more: https://www.axios.com/2025/05/19/biden-prostate-cancer-diagnosis

[TomJulie]

1. If This Is The Start Of The End...

I hope we all will pray Joe doesn't suffer. When it's my turn, I hope I pass in my sleep and not become a bedridden invalid.

[JohnSJ]

3. It is NOT the start of the end. There is so much misinformation today because too many people do NOT

know what is available or the advances that have been made.

This is from one of the leading prostate oncologists in the country:

[sheshe2]

12. Thank you, John.

[Ms. Toad]

15. It is magical thinking to assert it is NOT the beginning of the end.

In a study published last year, 43% of men diagnosed with prostate cancer with a Gleason score of 9 or 10 died of prostate cancer within the follow-up period (an average of 8.3 years).

https://euoncology.europeanurology.com/article/S2588-9311(23)00244-4/fulltext

Regardless of improved treatments, advanced prostate cancer is still a killer.

Does that mean Biden will die from it? No. He may be one of the lucky ones who go into remission. But nearly one in two still die from prostate cancer diagnosed in the grade group in which he was diagnosed. Not to mention that not all of those in the study had metastasis, which worsens the odds of long term survival.

We also don't know whether his Gleason score was 5+4 or 4+5. The former has a significantly worse prognosis.

And people make different choices about treatment. Many cancer treatments are not gentle - some people choose quality of life over quantity of life.

I am sharing this as someone living with two types of cancer - both currently in remission. One of the cancers is very aggressive, and I am in a support group for that cancer. I regularly see both death and the loss in quality of remaining life that insisting on beating cancer at all costs causes. From that perspective, magical thinking does as much harm as doomsday thinking.

I wish him great medical advice, and the pressure-free space to make the decisions which are best for himself and for his family.

[JohnSJ]

18. Now you are a medical expert, and Dr. Mark Scholz knows nothing. No surprise

your negativity permeates most of your posts on every subject.

Gosh I am impressed

This is not “magical thinking”

The physicians have already said it is hormone sensitive, and depending what the PSMA indicates, the bone metastasis can be treated with SBRT.

The 5 year survival with someone with a 5+5 gleason grade is 80% with the proper aggressive treatment, and provided it hasn't progressed to distant organs, but is regional.

The whole paradigm for Advanced Prostate Cancer has changed dramatically in the last 10 years, especially with combined treatments of hormone therapy, chemotherapy, targeted therapies, and immunotherapy.

[Ms. Toad]

22. Please point out where I said, it even implied, he knows nothing.

For that matter, please point out anything he said that supports your assertion that it is NOT the beginning of the end. Because your statement was an absolute, what you need to find is an assertion that no one dies from prostate cancer. Or if you can't find that, at least point to a statement he made that implies the death rate is less than 43%.

Significant improvements does not mean a 100% cure. Biden may outlive cancer, or he may not. This may - or may not - be the beginning of the end. That statement is based on the reality of living with cancer, and in the midst recent research about prognosis available. (And on the skills I have been forced to develop in reviewing medical literature because members of my family have had an extraordinary number of uncommon and rare conditions for which doctors have no easy answers.)

[JohnSJ]

25. I interpreted "Magical Thinking" as implied. Not a cure, but living with the condition. One thing I do appreciate

from you Ms. Toad, is your engagement in a dialog, whether we agree on something or disagree, you are a valuable resource for stimulating thought.

Thank-you.

[travelingthrulife]

2. Bone mets. So much pain.

I wish him well.

[Ms. Toad]

16. Not always.

My grandmother has none mets from breast cancer for at least a decade - and was relatively pain-free. (I say relatively, because she did have a very high pain tolerance. She never complained about pain (and she did complain about other aspects of her health). So, I can't say she was always pain-free, but it certainly did not dominate her medical concerns.)

[question everything]

4. Is this Willow?

[BumRushDaShow]

8. It looks like her

She's big (spoiled) kitteh!

[Ms. Toad]

17. Part of the "big" is camera distribution. n/t

[BumRushDaShow]

20. It looks like he was doing a "selfie"

but don't know what phone he uses.

[twodogsbarking]

5. Cancer research has helped dramatically. Best to you Joe. You da man.

[Bayard]

6. Stay strong, Joe!

[littlemissmartypants]

7. 🙏❤️

[Marthe48]

9. This is hard news to take

Presently have a friend who is waiting for biopsy results, a friend getting chemo, and a relative who got diagnosed last week with advanced cancer, who has opted for palliative care. I saw the news about President Biden. I hope he has good doctors who can get him through this with comfort and better health as time goes on.

I hate cancer.

[CapnSteve]

14. Fuck cancer all the way off!

The love of my life is a breast and tongue cancer survivor. So, yeah, fuck cancer.

Best wishes and prayers to President Biden.

[Paladin]

10. "We are strongest in the broken places."

Beautifully stated, by a genuinely great President. God bless him and his family.

[Botany]

19. I bet Joe and or Jill wrote that well crafted phrase. I remember when he was coming into office...

… Joe read a poem about a young man waking up in cold house in the winter, in a northern
urban area in America, and his father had gotten up earlier to warm up the house for his
family before he left for a tough job. A professor of English had Joe and some other people
on the video talking about what the poem means to them and Joe understood the poem
because he understood what a good father did for his family under difficult circumstances.

Joe then spoke of how he liked the completions of what the same poem can have > 1
meaning to different people. That phrase about, “being strong in the weakest places”
is really good.

[Paladin]

21. Yeah, the Good Old Days...

...back when we had a decent President, who had more than a passing acquaintance with the English language. Seems like a hundred years ago.

[Botany]

24. 1 of the 1st people Biden brought onto his team was a PhD from California who had won a Nobel Prize

Joe knew that with C 19 he would have lots of problems that dealt with science and needed to
hire scientists so he brought in Ms Nobel Person to vet all the needed hires in science and
smart stuff. The results? Flat out got after C 19 big time but the results were not as good
as they should have been because Putin and company cranked up their misinformation campaigns
which got a lot of the dumb shits to believe that the vaccine was bad and becoming a host to the
virus were it can grow and mutate will give you supper immunity.

[calimary]

11. I feel for her.

In that photo, it looks (to me) like she’s been crying a lot, lately. She married someone who’s really heroic and will be remembered that way in history. But all she knows is that the love of her life has a dreadful disease, and will be taken from her WAY too soon.

Driving the news: Sharing a selfie with former first lady Jill Biden and their cat, Willow, the former president wrote, "Cancer touches us all."
He continued, "Like so many of you, Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support."

I really feel for her.

[sheshe2]

13. 💙💙💙

Love to both Joe and Jill.

[ananda]

23. Quoting Hemingway, I see.

I miss literate presidents.