Gleason Score 9: What Former President Joe Biden’s Diagnosis Means for Prostate Cancer Awareness

Former President Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to his bones. Doctors have described it as having a Gleason score of 9, which is used to help understand how serious the cancer is.

What is Prostate Cancer?

Prostate cancer starts in the prostate — a small gland only found in men. According to National Institutes of Health (NIH), it’s the second leading cause of cancer-related deaths among men in the United States.

Understanding the Gleason Score

The Gleason score is a number that helps doctors describe how aggressive prostate cancer is. It’s based on how abnormal the cancer cells look under a microscope, and how quickly they grow and spread.

• Scores range from 6 to 10, with higher scores meaning more aggressive cancer.
• A score of 9, like Biden’s case, means the cancer is very likely to spread quickly.

Survival and Outlook

Even though prostate cancer can be serious, the five-year survival rate is about 98 percent. When it spreads to other parts of the body, like the bones, it becomes harder to treat.

According to the American Cancer Society:

• About 12.9 percent of men in the U.S. will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime.
• In 2022, around 3.5 million Americans were living with prostate cancer.
• The average age of diagnosis is 68 years, and the average age of death from prostate cancer is 79 years.

Treatment Options

According to Dr. Abhishek Bhat, who specializes in urology and oncology at Jackson Medical Group’s North Miami office, some common options for advanced prostate cancer include:

• Hormone therapy, also known as androgen deprivation therapy (ADT), lowers the levels of male hormones that fuel cancer growth. ADT can slow the spread of cancer and ease symptoms.
• Doctors also monitor prostate-specific antigen (PSA) levels to track how the cancer is responding to treatment.
• Surgery is a treatment option, but isn’t usually used when the cancer has spread beyond the prostate.

A Call for Awareness

The American Cancer Society responded to the news, saying it’s a reminder of how serious prostate cancer can be. They emphasized the importance of early detection, especially since more men are being diagnosed with advanced stages of the disease.

“As men we can prevent late-stage diagnosis of prostate cancer by making sure we get screened regularly. Early detection is key,” said Dr. Bhat.

Gage Skidmore, CC BY-SA 2.0, via Wikimedia Commons