Former US President Joe Biden is undergoing radiotherapy and hormonal treatment to combat prostate cancer, a spokesperson told AFP this Saturday.
The 82-year-old Democrat, who withdrew from his 2024 re-election bid for health reasons, revealed in May that he had been diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer with “bone metastases.”
His cancer then had a score of 9 on the Gleason scale, which evaluates the aggressiveness of prostate cancers on a measurement that goes up to 10, according to the former president’s office.
“As part of a treatment plan for prostate cancer, President Biden is currently undergoing radiation therapy and hormonal treatment,” the spokesperson stated.
Radiation therapy “uses high-energy rays or particles to destroy cancer cells,” the American Cancer Society explains on its website.
This type of treatment is used for different stages of prostate cancer, the organization specifies.
The purpose of taking hormones for this disease, the institution notes, is “to reduce the levels of male hormones, called androgens, in the body or prevent them from driving the growth of prostate cancer cells.”
After initially expressing his “sadness” at the news in May, current President Donald Trump suggested the next day that the Democrat’s diagnosis had been known for a long time.
In June, Trump ordered the start of an investigation into Biden’s entourage, suspected of having “conspired” to cover up the physical and cognitive deterioration of his successor and predecessor in the White House.
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