37% is the five-year survival rate once prostate cancer has spread to distant parts of the body, per the American Cancer Society. Former President Joe Biden, 83, is now in that clinical category: his son Hunter Biden told BBC Newsnight that the disease has metastasized into his bones, describing the condition as "very painful" and "very debilitating in many respects." Biden had completed a course of radiation at Penn Medicine Radiation Oncology in Philadelphia in October 2025 and was on hormone therapy, treatments his office characterized at the time of his May 2025 diagnosis as allowing "effective management."
The incidence backdrop
The American Cancer Society projects 333,830 new U.S. prostate cancer cases in 2026, against an expected 36,320 deaths. One in eight men will receive the diagnosis at some point in their lives. That caseload is growing: overall incidence rose roughly 3% per year from 2014 through 2021. Advanced-stage cases climbed faster, at approximately 5% annually over the same period.
Six in 10 diagnoses fall in men aged 65 or older, with an average diagnosis age of 67. Men under 40 are rarely affected. Prostate cancer ranks second among all cancers in men, behind skin cancer only, per the ACS.
Staging and the survival math
The survival curve separates sharply by disease extent. Localized prostate cancer, confined to the gland itself, carries a five-year survival rate of at least 99%. Regional spread to nearby structures or lymph nodes holds at 99% or greater. Once the disease reaches distant sites, that rate falls to 37%. The ACS notes outcomes vary by age, overall health, disease progression after diagnosis, and treatment response.
Screening and treatment options
The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends that men aged 55 to 69 be offered periodic PSA-based screening, noting the potential benefit is a small reduction in mortality risk. Potential harms include false-positive results, overdiagnosis, and treatment complications, which the task force says patients should weigh in conversation with a clinician.
Treatment options beyond hormone therapy and radiation include chemotherapy, targeted therapy, immunotherapy, and radiopharmaceutical treatments. A non-invasive urine test is under research as an alternative screening method. A separate blood test has been reported to detect 90% of aggressive prostate cancer cases, outperforming current screenings. Hunter Biden told BBC Newsnight he wishes his father "would complain more" about the condition, adding: "It's not good."