Biden's last screening for prostate cancer was in 2014, spokesperson says

[Polybius]

Source: NBC News

WASHINGTON — Joe Biden was never diagnosed with prostate cancer until last week, and the last time he was screened for it was more than a decade ago, a spokesperson for the former president said Tuesday.

“President Biden’s last known PSA was in 2014. Prior to Friday, President Biden had never been diagnosed with prostate cancer,” the spokesperson said.

Screening for prostate cancer often involves a prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, test, which measures the level of protein produced by the prostate and could indicate potential disease. The test has a high proportion of false positives, and the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force does not recommend it for men 70 and older since they are more likely to die of other medical conditions than prostate cancer.

Biden, 82, had his last PSA 11 years ago.

Read more: https://www.nbcnews.com/politics/joe-biden/joe-biden-psa-screening-2014-prostate-cancer-rcna208120

[Silent Type]

1. My question is, Why? He's had the best health care almost anyone can get for decades. Guess it was a personal choice.

Not sure testing would necessarily have mattered, but still . . . . .

[dweller]

2. No

I doubt it was a personal choice . He was probably allowing his medical team to conduct the tests they saw fit to perform.
If they stopped testing for PSA it was on them , not him .

Tired of the ‘blame Biden’ vibe

edit: for a 2nd opinion , see
https://www.democraticunderground.com/100220331682

✌🏻

[Silent Type]

4. I'd investigate medical team, then. Somebody check on Obama if he had same team.

[dweller]

5. See my post above

Update


✌🏻

[Silent Type]

6. The one about Randi Rhodes. Saw it. Didn't seem applicable to Biden. Sorry about her cancer though.

Questioning Biden’s healthcare is not blame game, sorry.

[dweller]

11. You said it was his personal choice

And that is blame .
And the Randy Rhodes thread is about her doctor not exploring her history and the result of that . And a similar experience as to the lack of adequate healthcare in this country .
A patient should not need a medical degree to expect their provider to perform their job .

I will not blame the victim .


✌🏻

[Silent Type]

12. I guess it's blame if you read pointing at each word in a post. Either he had cruddy docs OR

he got the same talk that most men around 70 get about PSAs and decided to do without as many men do.

Personally, I would not skimp on lab tests for a Prez that can be run on same tube of blood as used for cholesterol tests.

[dweller]

14. Which is the crux of the matter

A simple blood test to determine if further discussion , tests, procedures may be of importance.
a simple blood test … and one’s life may hang in the balance.

Curious now how women would feel if the medical establishment said -
Women over 60 or 70 need no longer have checks for breast cancer , or uterine cancer for their life expectancy doesn’t justify the further testing or treatments that may be needed .

🤔



✌🏻

[Ms. Toad]

28. Routine breast cancer screening ends at 75

And there is no screening at all for uterine cancer. If you mean cervical cancer, routine screening ends at 65. Colonoscopies for colorectal cancer (both genders) typically end at 85.

American Cancer Society no longer recommends breast self-examination, as not effective in reducing breast cancer deaths. That was how my mother and I found our breast cancers. In her case, they could not even confirm it by mammogram and she went in for a biopsy expecting what she had found to be benign. In my case, it was confirmed by mammogram - but for the month of dozens of doctor's visits more than half could not find the lump on their own.

The screening guidelines (which generally determine what insurance will pay for) is not all about life expectancy - the recommendations are a balance of a lot of things including life expectancy, risk of aggressive v. relatively benign cancer, likelihood that treatment would extend life or quality of life, effectiveness (including age-related rate of false positives), cost of treatment, etc. I agree with some - and disagree with others. But they aren't only regarding prostate screening for men - there are guidelines for most cancer screenings, and most end at some point.

[Hekate]

32. Thank you, Ms Toad

When someone at the Women’s Imaging clinic told me that business about my age (well into my 70s) and mammograms I simply said my mother had had breast cancer. When they asked how old she’d been I raised an eyebrow and said, “My age.”

Nuff said.

And of course — no more routine PAP tests because of my age. Hmph.

I am very fortunate to have good insurance because my husband still works full time, but even so.

[LisaL]

9. It's right there in the article.

PSA tests are not recommended for men after 70. Sounds like his doctors followed this recommendation.

[Silent Type]

15. That choice for us peons is based on cost, false positives, psychological issues, etc. A Prez

should be tested for everything. Throw a tube of blood in a multi-channel chemistry analyzer and test for everything.

[nilram]

16. Presidents are just as susceptible to false positives

as anyone else. As a president who was open about his health, a false positive would drag the nation along. Also, a positive test result can involve further testing that can be invasive and harmful. Prostate biopsies are not without risks.

the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force does not recommend it for men 70 and older since they are more likely to die of other medical conditions than prostate cancer.

[Silent Type]

18. If Biden had a positive, they would have performed imaging and a biopsy. Most of us, wouldn't.

As disgusting as the thought is, I’d like to know of trump has prostate cancer, clogged arteries, questionable areas of brain, etc.

They should have tested Biden and then discussed options if positive.

Prez are not normal people in this respect, I would have contributed the $40 for Biden’s PSA.

[nilram]

22. Yes, and As a president who was open about his health, a false positive would drag the nation along.

Including FOX news and every non-silent troll. Prostate biopsies can be invasive and harmful. They are not without risks.

[Polybius]

20. Except if you're really, REALLY important

President of the United States certainly warrants it.

[live love laugh]

3. Too long

[moniss]

7. This is typical for older men as

this article notes:

"People older than 70 or 75 are generally not actively screened because experts say the disease is usually slow growing.

Debate over the benefits of PSA testing means that not everyone is in favour.

More than a decade ago, the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care recommended against PSA screening because "the potential harms of screening outweigh the benefits."

It maintains this stance, saying that the main problems are false-positive results and overdiagnosis, the review indicated. A positive PSA test result often leads to more tests such as a biopsy, which carries risks of bleeding, infection and urinary incontinence."

I can tell you of men diagnosed in their late 60's who lived into their late 70's and longer and the doctors didn't even remove the prostate.

https://www.cbc.ca/news/health/joe-biden-prostate-cancer-diagnosis-1.7539444

[elleng]

8. STANDARD treatment for men over 60.

[moniss]

10. Yes I've done annual physicals for almost 20 years and

they ran a PSA once when I hit my 60's.

[doc03]

13. I am 77, I have had the PSA test every year for well over a decade. I find it hard to

believe I get a more through physical than the president unless that was his choice. Several
years ago, I told my doctor that I had heard it is better not to get the PSA. He said that "The government
doesn't want Medicare to pay for it". The reason sometimes it requires unnecessary testing. Like myself
my PSA was high, I had to get a biopsy that turned out benign.

[hamsterjill]

17. I'm sorry, but I just don't see what difference this all makes now.

I know the internet is buzzing with the stories that Biden had been sick and was hiding it. I don't believe that, but whether it's true or not, it is not relevant at this time. Screw the Tappers of the world who are trying to make a book over some salacious claims.

Biden is no longer President, and he has cancer. I wish him all the very best and I hope he can be treated and helped, and live for many more years. I would want the same for (almost) anyone.

[Polybius]

21. If it helps even one older person detect it early, then it indeed makes a difference n/t

[hamsterjill]

24. Of course!

But there is an element in the news and elsewhere trying to blame Biden for something. That component is what I'm referring to.

[Beringia]

19. It is inconceivable to me that he didn't get screenings

Prostate cancer is such a killer

[Buddyzbuddy]

23. Did his Dr.'s fail him? After 50 my Dr. recommended a test every 5 years.

[generalbetrayus]

25. All this talk of PSA tests, the cost of which gets charged to health insurance companies.

My family doctor discovered my prostate gland cancer the old-fashioned way, by sticking his finger up my butt and probing and finding a nodule as part of my annual physical. I never had a PSA test until after the nodule was discovered, at age 60.

[stage left]

29. Yes

This is the way our doctor found my husband's problem. She gave him 20 more years.

[CentralMass]

26. It is what it is, but I would expect that the President would get PSA test during his physicals.

[Pachamama]

27. As a multiple cancer survivor and big believer in screening and prevention:

I have now had multiple cancers that I have survived - all caught due to my insistence for the last decades since my mid 20’s in having screening tests - even when they go against “recommended advice”. Sometimes the guidelines change regarding colon cancer screenings, mammograms, skin cancer checks etc. I never cared - I just insisted.

I haven’t followed the recommended guidelines - especially when they changed them. I am fortunate in that I have the means to do so - and insist on getting screenings more frequent or often. In my family has been breast cancer. So even at a young age in my 20’s I began mammograms even when they said it wasn’t needed yet - and when they changed the recommended guidelines for women later. Including on Pap smears. And guess what - it caught a breast tumor early and small and was removed. If I had not - I would have had much more radical removal necessary or worse.

Same for colonoscopy- in my family there is a tendency to have polyps. Polyps that can evolve into cancer. So even when my health insurance provider wanted to do a mail in kit sampler - I insist on getting a colonoscopy - and indeed - each time multiple polyps that are non cancerous and are removed. My most recent one found a few that were larger than usual and therefore now recommended every 3 years a colonoscopy instead of 5 years. Bottom line - if I just went with the mail in sampler tests like cologuard - they wouldn’t have caught the polyps that can develop into cancer. Who knows if they might have developed into colon cancer - thankfully I didn’t have to find out.

Skin cancer - I had melanoma over two decades ago - caught and removed and I had both surgery and immunotherapy. When the skin checks went from every 3 months to 6 months to annual - then to not required - I still insisted and went and had a skin check every 6 months to a year. And guess what - another melanoma was found a few years ago - caught early enough - in situ. Removed and gone. If I had just stopped getting screenings - could have developed further.

So here is my take - preventive screening is perhaps the most effective and important tool in PREVENTING and catching cancer and surviving. We live in times where health insurance providers who watch the bottom line try to void these costs. It is of course penny wise pound foolish because the cost to treat cancer and especially advanced is far more expensive and lives are priceless. When a person has the means to pay where insurance doesn’t cover or recommend - then absolutely do it. What a precious expenditure of money. Who says money can’t buy happiness - it can however buy some more time and quality of time.

I therefore am very confused and don’t understand how someone like Biden - whom I respect and love dearly - who as someone of means and also access to resources and medical officials and also with the history of cancer in his family and also the responsibility that he had to so many to remain healthy - did not do every single possible test for Prostate Cancer - even when not reccomemded or insisted upon. No test since 2014? If it had been me - regardless of the best doctors around - I would have said “do it”. And would with that info made important decisions. I just hope for Joe and for his family and our Nation that it’s not too late that he didn’t insist.

[Javaman]

30. I find this really odd.

you can get screenings through blood tests now.

and if you have stage 4, that would show up big time.

[Paladin]

31. Oh, goodie! Another opportunity to shit on Joe Biden!

Just what we need, at the moment, given how things are going...

(Sarcasm alert, for the clueless.)

[Rebl2]

33. After age

70 the doctor leaves it up to the patient sometimes on getting PSA test. My husband told his doctors in the past not to screen him for it, but his new doctor did anyway last year. Guess what, he had cancer. They did genetic testing as well and found it wasn’t likely to spread, but they will watch it. His level 10 dropped to level 6 with medication he is taking.