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8h ago

Biden’s Advanced Prostate Cancer Diagnosis Prompts Renewed Focus on Screening Guidelines

The former president's stage 4 diagnosis highlights a decade-long rise in late-stage cases and intensifies calls to revise outdated screening recommendations.

A surgeon sitting in front of screens of a Focal Onedevice performs a robot-assisted prostate tumorectomy using ultrasound imaging on April 10, 2014 at the Edouard Herriot hospital in Lyon, center France. Focal One is the first robotic HIFU (high intensity focused ultrasound) device dedicated to the focal approach for prostate cancer therapy. According to EDAP TMS SA, a leader in therapeutic ultrasound, it combines the three essential components to efficiently perform a focal treatment: state-of-the-art imaging to localized tumors with the use of magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) combined with real-time ultrasound, utmost precision of robotic HIFU treatment focused only on identified targeted cancer areas, and immediate feedback on treatment efficacy utilizing Contrast-Enhanced Ultrasound Imaging. AFP PHOTO / JEFF PACHOUD (Photo credit should read JEFF PACHOUD/AFP/Getty Images)
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Doctor explaining prostate examination to male patient during routine check-up. Men’s health care.
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Overview

  • Former President Joe Biden, 82, has been diagnosed with stage 4 prostate cancer, characterized by a Gleason score of 9 and metastasis to the bone.
  • Biden's last prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening occurred in 2014, reflecting adherence to 2012 guidelines advising limited testing for older men.
  • Experts link a 4–7% annual rise in advanced prostate cancer cases over the past decade to reduced PSA screenings following the 2012 USPSTF downgrade.
  • Advancements in detection, including MRI-guided screening and new biomarkers, have improved the balance between early detection and minimizing overdiagnosis.
  • The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is reviewing its guidelines, with advocates urging updates to address the increasing prevalence of metastatic diagnoses.