Former President Joe Biden's stage four prostate cancer has metastasized into his bones and beyond, his son Hunter confirmed in a BBC interview, describing the 83-year-old's condition as painful and worsening.
Hunter Biden, 56, told BBC Newsnight on Friday that his father's health has deteriorated significantly since the initial cancer diagnosis in May 2025, just four months after Biden left the White House. The cancer, originally identified as an aggressive form of the disease with a Gleason score of 9, has now spread well past the prostate, the New York Post reported.
A Gleason score of 9, on a scale that tops out at 10, indicates highly abnormal cancer cells with a strong likelihood of spreading. That is exactly what has happened.
Hunter Biden did not sugarcoat the situation. In the BBC sit-down, he offered a blunt, personal account of watching his father's decline, one that raises fresh questions about how much the public was told, and when, about the former president's health while he still held office.
The younger Biden's remarks were among the most candid any family member has offered about the former president's condition. He told the BBC interviewer that the reality is grim.
"The cancer has spread, metastasized into his bones and further. It's very painful, and it's very debilitating in many respects."
He went further, saying he wished his father would be more open about the toll the disease is taking.
"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."
When pressed by the interviewer, Hunter Biden described the experience of watching his father fight the disease in personal terms, telling the BBC, "It's really sad to watch." The Washington Examiner noted that Hunter also said simply, "It's really tough, Paddy, that's the real answer."
Despite the severity of the diagnosis, Hunter insisted his father remains engaged. "He's still doing his thing," he said. "He so believes in this country."
Biden has indeed remained publicly active. In late June, he appeared at a Maryland Democrats "Fight Back and Win" gala near Baltimore. Earlier that month, he attended the opening of the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, though that appearance drew attention for a different reason. Standing at a lectern after the event, Biden was caught on camera asking, "Where's my granddaughter?", a moment that added to a pattern of public episodes that have fueled concern about his overall condition.
The timeline of Biden's illness has raised pointed questions about what was known, and what was disclosed, while he was still commander-in-chief. Former First Lady Jill Biden, 75, provided new details last week in an interview with Kelly Ripa on the Sirius XM show "Let's Talk Off Camera."
Jill Biden told Ripa she first noticed something was wrong while the couple still lived in the White House. Biden was getting up to use the bathroom as many as seven times a night, a classic warning sign of prostate trouble. She said she raised the issue with White House physicians at the time.
But the problem persisted. After Biden left office in January 2025, Jill Biden said she pushed her husband to seek outside medical care.
"But when it continued when we got out of the White House, I said, 'Joe, we've got to go up to Jeff in Philly, something's wrong.'"
The identity and full credentials of the Philadelphia-based physician she referred to as "Jeff" have not been publicly disclosed.
That timeline is worth pausing on. If Jill Biden noticed frequent nighttime urination severe enough to alarm her while her husband was still president, and raised it with White House doctors, the obvious question is what those doctors found, what they communicated to the president, and whether any of it was shared with the public. Biden's health was already a subject of intense public scrutiny during the final year of his presidency, particularly after his disastrous June 2024 debate performance.
Fox News reported that medical experts have suggested Biden likely had the cancer throughout his presidency, given the aggressive nature of the disease and the Gleason score of 9. If that assessment is accurate, it means the American public was kept in the dark about a sitting president's serious cancer diagnosis for years.
Biden's office first announced the cancer in May 2025. The statement said doctors had discovered a "nodule" on his prostate after he reported urinary symptoms. The cancer was described as an "aggressive form", stage four prostate cancer.
By last October, Biden's office issued a follow-up, saying he was undergoing radiation therapy and hormone treatment. At the time, the cancer was described as hormone-sensitive, which typically suggests a better prognosis.
But Hunter Biden's BBC interview makes clear the disease has progressed well past that point. Metastasis into the bones represents a significant escalation. AP News confirmed the same account, reporting that the cancer has spread to Biden's bones and beyond, and that the former president's condition is causing him significant pain.
In June, Jill Biden offered her own sobering assessment, stating publicly that her husband "will have to live with cancer for the rest of his life, which means he's on special medicines." She also acknowledged the cancer and medications have "made life a little more difficult these days" for the 83-year-old. That disclosure came as Jill Biden publicly acknowledged for the first time that her husband's condition is permanent and that he has slowed down.
Biden is reportedly working on a memoir titled "Promise Me, America," planned for release after the midterm elections. Breitbart reported the same core details from the BBC interview, noting the diagnosis came just four months after Biden left office at 83.
Several basic questions remain unanswered. Biden's office has not disclosed whether his treatment regimen has changed since the metastasis was confirmed. It is unclear whether he is still receiving radiation therapy, or whether the "special medicines" Jill Biden referenced represent a new course of treatment. The full scope of the cancer's spread, "into his bones and further," as Hunter put it, has not been specified.
Most pressing is the question of the White House years. Jill Biden's account places the onset of noticeable symptoms during Biden's presidency. White House physicians were informed. Yet no public disclosure was made until months after Biden left office. Whether those physicians conducted further testing, what they found, and why nothing was disclosed are questions that remain open.
Biden's health and cognitive fitness were among the most contested issues of his presidency. His inner circle repeatedly insisted he was sharp and capable, even as public appearances told a different story. The cancer timeline suggests the gap between what the Biden team said and what was actually happening may have been wider than anyone acknowledged.
Just The News confirmed the core details of Hunter Biden's disclosure, reporting that the cancer has spread to Biden's bones and other parts of his body.
The American people spent years being told Joe Biden was fit to lead. Now his own family is telling them he is in serious pain, his cancer is spreading, and it is "not good." The public deserved that candor long before it came from a son on a BBC set, they deserved it when it mattered, when the man was still in charge.