Hunter Biden Details Father's Ongoing Prostate Cancer Battle

Former President Joe Biden, 83, continues to manage an aggressive prostate cancer diagnosis first announced in May 2025, with his son Hunter describing the disease as having spread further and producing significant pain during a BBC Newsnight interview. The remarks underscore the personal strain on the Biden family as they confront a condition that requires ongoing monitoring without expectation of cure. Jill Biden has separately characterized the situation as one the family will navigate daily for the rest of her husband’s life.

Hunter Biden stated that the cancer “has spread, metastasized into his bones and further” and called it “very painful and it’s very debilitating in many respects.” He did not specify additional sites of spread beyond the bones. A statement at the time of the May 2025 diagnosis reported a Gleason score of 9 with metastasis to the bone; the cancer was described as hormone-sensitive and therefore manageable through treatment. Joe Biden underwent surgery for skin cancer lesions in September 2025 and completed radiation therapy for prostate cancer in October 2025.

The family has a prior history with the disease. Joe Biden’s son Beau died of glioblastoma in 2015. Jill Biden noted in a May 2026 CBS Sunday Morning interview that men over 70 are not routinely screened for prostate cancer because it is typically slow-growing and repeated testing carries its own risks; she said the diagnosis came as a surprise despite White House medical care. In a SiriusXM podcast appearance, she added that testing and medication occur every three months and that the experience remains “challenging.”

Hunter Biden addressed questions about whether his own legal troubles had affected his father’s health or decision-making. He rejected the premise that he could have prevented Joe Biden from running for office, saying the idea of “taking the keys away from a President” was laughable. He described watching his father’s June 2024 debate performance as “shocking” but noted the cancer diagnosis came nine months later. Joe Biden received a full pardon from his father in December 2024 covering acts over the prior decade; Hunter Biden called the decision open to criticism on constitutional, public, and legacy grounds while stating that concerns about potential retaliation proved well-founded.

Joe Biden has continued public appearances focused on issues he considers important and plans to release a memoir titled “Promise Me, America” on November 17. His office has not released further details on the current extent of the cancer beyond the statements already made public.