How Do You Feel About This Tragic Biden Update? 11
Former President Joe Biden’s prostate cancer has spread beyond the bone metastases disclosed when he was diagnosed last year and is now causing significant pain, according to his son Hunter Biden.
Hunter Biden became emotional while discussing his 83-year-old father’s condition in a wide-ranging BBC Newsnight interview broadcast Aug. 7, describing the former president’s illness as difficult for the family to watch.
“The cancer has spread, metastasized into his bones and further,” Hunter Biden said.
“It’s very painful and it’s very debilitating in many respects,” he added.
Hunter did not specify where else the cancer had spread, and Joe Biden’s office has not publicly released additional medical details explaining the extent of the progression.
A spokesman for the former president declined to comment to Reuters after Hunter’s interview.
Joe Biden announced in May 2025, less than four months after leaving the White House, that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had already metastasized to his bones.
At the time, his office said the cancer carried a Gleason score of 9, indicating a highly aggressive form of the disease, but added that it appeared to be hormone-sensitive, allowing doctors to pursue treatments designed to manage its progression.
Biden later underwent hormone therapy and radiation treatment as part of his cancer care.
Hunter said the physical toll has become increasingly difficult to watch because his father rarely complains about what he is experiencing.
“It’s really sad to watch,” Hunter said.
“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,” he continued.
Despite the illness, Hunter said his father remains engaged with public affairs and continues to speak about issues that matter to him.
“He’s still doing his thing,” Hunter said. “He so believes in this country.”
Former first lady Jill Biden has offered similar descriptions of her husband’s life since the diagnosis, saying earlier this summer that he was “doing okay,” maintaining a schedule and continuing to make public appearances even as cancer treatment changed the family’s daily routine.
She has also acknowledged that the former president has slowed down and that living with stage 4 cancer has taken a toll.
Hunter described his father as the emotional center of the Biden family.
“My dad is, to this day, the center of our family,” he said, calling him the “best father, the best husband, the best grandfather.”
The interview also turned to Hunter’s long struggle with drug and alcohol addiction and the effect it had on his father and other members of the family.
Asked whether his addiction had made Joe Biden’s life and health worse, Hunter answered directly.
“Of course I did,” he said. “That’s what addiction does.”
Hunter has publicly documented years of addiction, including crack cocaine use, in his 2021 memoir, “Beautiful Things,” and has spoken increasingly openly about recovery in recent months.
He said his addiction affected Jill Biden, his children and other relatives, but emphasized the role his father played in keeping a path back to the family open even during the most difficult periods.
“My dad never let me off the hook,” Hunter said.
At the same time, he said his father always made clear that “when I was ready to come back, the door was open.”
“That was the singular thing that saved me,” Hunter said.
He also questioned the idea that families should always allow a person suffering from addiction to reach what is commonly described as “rock bottom,” arguing that for many people the consequences of reaching that point can be irreversible.
Hunter’s reflections come against the backdrop of repeated tragedy in the Biden family.
Joe Biden’s eldest son, Beau Biden, died of brain cancer in 2015 at age 46, a loss that has remained a central part of the former president’s public and private life.
“Unconditional love doesn’t mean love without consequences,” Hunter said. “It doesn’t mean love without accountability.”
The BBC interview also revisited Joe Biden’s June 2024 presidential debate against Donald Trump, a performance that intensified public concern about his age and fitness for office and helped trigger a Democratic effort to persuade him to end his reelection campaign.
Hunter said he was watching the debate from California and immediately sensed that something was wrong.
“I knew something was wrong,” he said, describing himself as shocked by what he saw.
Joe Biden ultimately withdrew from the presidential race on July 21, 2024. Then-Vice President Kamala Harris became the Democratic nominee and later lost the general election to Trump.
Since leaving office in January 2025, Biden has maintained a more limited public schedule, although he has continued to make selected speeches and appearances.
In June, he attended the dedication of former President Barack Obama’s presidential library in Chicago, and he has continued to speak publicly on democracy and other issues central to his political career.
Biden is also preparing to publish a presidential memoir titled “Promise Me, America,” which is scheduled for release Nov. 17, two weeks after the 2026 midterm elections.
The book is expected to address major decisions from his presidency, including his choice to seek reelection and his eventual decision to step aside in 2024.
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For now, however, Hunter Biden’s interview has placed renewed attention on the former president’s health, offering the clearest public indication yet that his cancer has progressed beyond what was disclosed when the diagnosis was first announced.
While Hunter described the disease as painful and debilitating, he also portrayed his father as determined to remain engaged with his family and the country despite the physical challenges of treatment.
