UPMC doc on Biden: 'It's impossible to screen your way out of advanced prostate cancer'

More than half of Joe Biden’s peers also likely have prostate cancer. They may not know it because they’re not showing symptoms and doctors generally stop screening for it at age 69.

“We don’t often actively look for it at this age,” said Dr. Quoc-Dien Trinh, chair of the Urology Department at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and chair of urology at UPMC.

Men between the ages of 55 and 69 can get blood tests to diagnose the disease and/or an examination by a doctor, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. These screenings should be discussed individually because of the risks associated with false diagnosis and/or adverse side effects from treatment, the CDC says.

The 82-year-old former president went public with his diagnosis on Sunday. After displaying urinary symptoms, Biden was diagnosed on Friday with an aggressive form of the disease that has spread to the bone, Biden’s office said.

Cancer touches us all. 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. pic.twitter.com/oSS1vGIiwU

— Joe Biden (@JoeBiden) May 19, 2025

The cancer also appears to be hormone-sensitive, which allows for effective management, his office said.

While Biden has among the most aggressive forms of the disease, the bones are the most common place for prostate cancer to spread, Trinh said.

There are several treatment options, including hormone therapy, that can be effective, Trinh said Monday.

“There are men who live for many many years with metastatic prostate cancer,” Dr. Benjamin Davies, a professor of urology at Pitt, told TribLive. “There’s no reason to think he’s in dire straits right now.”

Lots of opinions that can not be verified. What is true? It is completely normal (unfortunately) to present with de novo metastatic prostate cancer. Anyone on either side claiming that is not the case has no idea what they are talking about.

— Benjamin J. Davies MD (@daviesbj) May 19, 2025

Post-mortem studies show that more than 80% of men who died in their 80s had prostate cancer even if it wasn’t their primary cause of death.

“It’s impossible to screen your way out of advanced prostate cancer,” Davies said.

Earlier Monday, Davies appeared on NPR with host Steve Inskeep. Asked about detection, he said, “You know, even if you screen regularly, many patients, you know, we can’t find the disease before it’s already in your bones.”

The average survival rate is between 30% to 40% after five years of diagnosis, according to the American Cancer Society, Trinh said.

About 36,000 Americans and about 375,000 people around the world die each year of the disease.

Famous people felled by the disease include former football star-turned criminal O.J. Simpson, 76; actor Bill Bixby, 59; actor Telly Savalas, 72; and former French President François Mitterrand, 79.