Former President Joe Biden’s cancer has metastasized throughout his body, his son Hunter Biden told the BBC in an interview on Friday. The former president was diagnosed with stage prostate cancer in May 2025. He is now 83. Over the last year, the public has heard little from Biden after he decided not to run for a second presidential term due to poor cognitive function. 

“Joe Biden is first and foremost a human being made in the image of God. He is a husband, father, and grandfather who is facing a serious illness. The news of the former president’s progressing cancer is sad, and moments like this are also an important reminder that Christians should never allow political disagreement to harden into personal animus,” David Closson, director of the Center for Biblical Worldview at Family Research Council, told The Washington Stand. 

According to People, Biden was first screened for prostate cancer in 2014, but was not diagnosed until 2025. In 1988, he suffered a brain aneurysm while he was a U.S. senator. In 2025, the former president lost his son Beau to glioblastoma, a type of brain cancer.

Upon his own cancer diagnoses, his personal office issued a statement: “He was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone. While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management. The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”

The Post Millennial reported that there is questioning surrounding the timeline of Biden’s sickness. “He did not develop it in the last 100, 200 days,” Emanuel Ezekial, an oncologist from the University of Pittsburgh, told MSNBC. “He had it while he was president. He probably had it at the start of his presidency in 2021. Yes, I don’t think there's any disagreement about that.”

Biden also posted on X about his condition at the time: “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.”

Hunter said in his BBC interview that as of late, his father’s cancer is extremely painful and debilitating, having spread to his bones. “I wish he would complain more,” Hunter shared, “because it’s not good.”

Only 8% of prostate cancer cases are diagnosed after the disease has spread to other parts of the body, People reported. 

“We can oppose a leader’s policies, sometimes vigorously, while sincerely praying for his health and well-being. In fact, our willingness to pray for those with whom we disagree is one way that Christians demonstrate that our ultimate allegiance is to Christ rather than a political party,” Closson continued.

According to The New York Times, Biden had skin cancer lesion removal surgery and did radiation therapy last year. Ashley Biden, the former president’s daughter, also posted a video at one point of her father ringing a bell that signifies a milestone in a person’s cancer journey.

“Cancer also confronts us with the frailty of human life and the reality that every one of us will eventually face death. So as Christians pray for President Biden’s physical healing, we should also pray for him spiritually — that he would look to Christ and find in Him the hope and peace that ultimately transcend our present circumstances,” Closson encouraged. 

The Bible teaches in 2 Corinthians that God’s grace is sufficient and His power is made perfect in weakness. Even in the weakness of cancer. 

The former president is set to release his memoir, “Promise Me, America” on November 17 this year.