In the long arc of a life spent in public service, former President Joe Biden now faces a deeply private reckoning — his prostate cancer, among the most aggressive in classification, has spread to his bones, bringing with it considerable pain and diminishment. His son Hunter, speaking with visible emotion to BBC News, drew back the curtain on a suffering that had been quietly endured behind the familiar image of continued public engagement. The disclosure arrives against a backdrop of unresolved questions about medical transparency for aging leaders, and what it means when the body's truth out
Hunter Biden says father's prostate cancer has metastasized to bones
Former President Biden is experiencing significant pain and debilitation from metastatic prostate cancer, affecting his quality of life and family.
I wish he would complain more, because it's not good
Mark
When Hunter said he wished his father would complain more, what do you think he was really saying?
Mimi
That his father's stoicism in the face of real pain is both admirable and concerning. There's a difference between bearing up and bearing up silently. Hunter seemed to be saying: this is serious, and we're not fully acknowledging how serious.
Mark
The cancer wasn't caught while Biden was president. Does that feel like a failure?
Mimi
It's more complicated than that. The guidelines themselves say men over 70 don't need routine screening. So the system worked as designed—just not in his favor. But it does raise a question about whether a sitting president should follow standard guidelines or get more aggressive monitoring.
Mark
Why did Hunter choose to disclose this now, in this particular way?
Mimi
He was asked about his father's health in a serious interview. He could have deflected, but instead he chose honesty and emotion. That's a choice to let people see what the family is actually living with, not the sanitized version.
Mark
What does it mean that Biden is still "out there" despite all this?
Mimi
It means he's made a decision about how to live with this diagnosis. He's not retreating. But Hunter's emotion suggests the family knows the cost of that choice every single day.
Mark
The Gleason score of 9—is that a death sentence?
Mimi
It's the most aggressive classification, but it's not necessarily a timeline. Metastatic cancer is serious, but people live with it for years. What matters is what happens next, how it responds to treatment, how his body holds up.
The Pulse
- Hunter Biden broke down during a BBC interview revealing that his 83-year-old father's prostate cancer — a Gleason score 9, the most aggressive grade — has spread into his bones, causing serious and ongoing pain.
- The timing of the diagnosis, surfacing just months after Biden left office, has reignited uncomfortable scrutiny over whether his deteriorating health was adequately disclosed — or even detected — during his presidency.
- Jill Biden acknowledged that the cancer went undetected while her husband was in the White House, with doctors pointing to age-based screening guidelines that typically discourage PSA testing for men over 70.
- Even as his family grapples with the weight of his condition, Biden himself continues to appear publicly and is preparing to release a memoir — a posture his son finds both admirable and quietly heartbreaking.
- Hunter's candid wish — that his father 'would complain more' — laid bare the distance between the stoic public figure and the man privately enduring one of the most difficult passages of his life.
In the long arc of a life spent in public service, former President Joe Biden now faces a deeply private reckoning — his prostate cancer, among the most aggressive in classification, has spread to his bones, bringing with it considerable pain and diminishment. His son Hunter, speaking with visible emotion to BBC News, drew back the curtain on a suffering that had been quietly endured behind the familiar image of continued public engagement. The disclosure arrives against a backdrop of unresolved questions about medical transparency for aging leaders, and what it means when the body's truth outpaces the story a presidency tells about itself.
On a Friday evening, Hunter Biden sat before BBC cameras and let his composure slip — not for political effect, but because the truth he was carrying had grown too heavy to hold lightly. His father's prostate cancer, diagnosed last May with a Gleason score of 9, had metastasized into his bones. It was painful. It was debilitating. And Hunter wanted the world to understand what that actually looked like for the man who had served as the oldest president in American history.
The diagnosis had arrived less than four months after Joe Biden left office, and its timing stirred difficult questions. Jill Biden, in a separate CBS News interview, acknowledged that the cancer had gone undetected during her husband's presidency — a fact she found troubling even as she praised the quality of White House medical care. Doctors pointed to standard screening guidelines from the American Urological Association, which generally advise against PSA blood tests for men over 70, given that prostate cancer often progresses slowly. Biden's did not. His Gleason score placed him in Grade Group 5, the most severe classification possible.
The health picture was further complicated by a skin cancer surgery the previous September and prostate cancer treatment in October — a series of diagnoses that, taken together, painted a portrait of serious and compounding medical challenges arriving in rapid succession after decades in public life.
Yet even amid all of this, Biden remained publicly engaged, preparing to release a memoir and continuing to speak on issues he cared about. Hunter found something both moving and painful in that persistence. 'I wish he would complain more,' he said quietly, 'because it's not good.' It was not a political observation. It was a son watching his father absorb suffering without surrendering to it — and wanting the world to know the cost of that quiet endurance.
Hunter Biden sat down with BBC News on a Friday evening and found himself growing emotional as he discussed something he had been carrying privately for months: his father's cancer had spread far beyond what most people knew. The former president's prostate cancer, diagnosed last May with a Gleason score of 9—the most aggressive classification—had metastasized into his bones. It was causing pain. It was debilitating. And Hunter wanted people to understand what that actually meant for the man who had served as the oldest president in American history.
"The cancer has spread, metastasized into his bones and further," Hunter said, his voice thick with emotion. "It's very painful and it's very debilitating in many respects." He described watching his father navigate this as deeply difficult, something that weighed on the entire family. Yet even as he spoke about the severity of the condition, Hunter also wanted to convey something else about his father: the man was still present, still engaged, still believing in the country enough to keep showing up publicly on the issues that mattered to him.
Joe Biden was 83 years old. Throughout his four years in office, his age had been a persistent source of concern—something his White House team had faced relentless criticism over, particularly after a debate performance in the summer of 2024 that forced him to step aside from his reelection bid. The timing of the cancer revelation, coming in May of last year, less than four months after he left office, raised uncomfortable questions about what had been known and when. His former wife, Jill Biden, would later acknowledge the shock of the diagnosis and note something that had troubled her: the cancer had not been detected while he was president. According to screening guidelines from the American Urological Association, doctors typically do not recommend PSA blood tests for men over 70, given that prostate cancer often grows slowly. "I do feel we had amazing care in the White House," Jill said in an interview with CBS News, "but somehow that was missed."
The Gleason score of 9 placed Biden in Grade Group 5, the most severe category possible. Beyond the prostate cancer itself, he had also undergone surgery for skin cancer the previous September, a procedure that involved removing thin layers of skin until only healthy tissue remained. In October, he underwent treatment for the prostate cancer. The accumulation of these diagnoses, coming so soon after leaving the presidency, painted a picture of a man dealing with serious and multiple health challenges.
Hunter's emotional honesty in the BBC interview cut through the usual political language. He said something that revealed the gap between public appearance and private reality: "The only thing that I'd say about my dad, about his health right now, is I wish he would complain more, because it's not good." It was a son's observation, not a political statement. His father was enduring significant suffering without making it the center of his existence. Instead, Biden was preparing to publish a memoir titled "Promise Me, America," scheduled for release after the midterm elections. He was still speaking out. He was still present. But the cost of that presence, Hunter wanted people to know, was real and it was steep.
Notable Quotes
The cancer has spread, metastasized into his bones and further. It's very painful and it's very debilitating in many respects.— Hunter Biden, in BBC News interview
The only thing that I'd say about my dad, about his health right now, is I wish he would complain more, because it's not good.— Hunter Biden
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Politics & Governance