Why is Joe Biden's “aggressive” prostate cancer not detected earlier? Expert weight
The late cancer diagnosis of former U.S. President Joe Biden has left some medical professionals wondering how the disease cannot be detected when his health is under severe scrutiny at the end of his presidency.
The 82-year-old was diagnosed with prostate cancer and spread to the bones, Biden's office said in a statement Sunday. He was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and is considered the most advanced.
Prostate cancer cells are usually graded on a scale of 1 to 10 Gleason System.
This grading system involves viewing cells under a microscope and measuring their abnormalities and the likelihood of diffusion. The higher the grade, the more positive the cancer is.
According to Biden's office, he scored nine points, indicating that his cancer is one of the most aggressive.
His support for former U.S. President Joe Biden has received a lot of support after he revealed he is fighting aggressive prostate cancer. While the disease cannot be cured, doctors say treatment may help manage for years.
“Of course, it's sad,” Dr. Peter Black, director of the Vancouver Prostate Center, said of Biden's diagnosis.
“It's something we can still control for several years, but it certainly affects his quality of life and maybe his life span.”
Given all the debates Biden has had during his presidency and during his second presidential campaign, the diagnosis raised questions before he left the game last summer, which raised questions about why this wouldn’t be caught early and what that means for his long-term health.
What is prostate cancer and what are the symptoms?
The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system, which makes part of the semen below the bladder. Cancer starts with prostate cells and can grow into nearby tissues. According to the Canadian Cancer Society, cancer can also spread to other parts of the body, including the bladder, nearby lymph nodes, bones and the brain.
“There are all kinds of prostate cancers,” Black said. “From early, relatively harmless disease to high-risk and already spreading things.”
Symptoms can vary from person to person, said Dr. James Dickinson, professor of family medicine and community health sciences at the University of Calgary.
But most commonly, he said, there are no symptoms at all. Some rare symptoms include urination in the urine or difficulty in blood.
“It could develop and spread widely until anyone notices it,” he said.
How many people in Canada have been diagnosed with it?
The Canadian Cancer Society says prostate cancer is the most common cancer among Canadian men and in this group, the third leading cause of death associated with cancer.
The organization is expected to be diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2024, with 5,000 people expected to die from the disease.
The group says it is most common among older people, mostly among black people, including African and Caribbean descent.
How do people sift it?
There are two methods for screening for prostate cancer. Although research I found that everyone has shortcomings.
There is a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test, which is a blood test that verifies PSA levels – a substance made by the prostate. As people age, PSA levels tend to Increase.
Better than normal levels may mean there is a problem with the prostate, but cancer is not always the culprit. Other causes may be enlarged or inflamed prostate caused by infection.
There is also a digital rectal examination (DRE), which involves a healthcare provider who inserts the finger of a glove into the rectum and feels any abnormal sensations, such as clumping, the Cancer Society said.
But, Black of the Vancouver Prostate Center said that although healthcare providers used to use this method frequently, they have “distanced” because it’s not very helpful. As a result, PSA tests are more commonly used.
When is the recommended filter?
Black said prostate cancer screening has been controversial, adding that he recommended PSA tests for healthy men aged 50 to 75.
“I'm on the screen because I see the benefits and if we don't sift, I'll see what happens.”
People aged 70 or older are not actively screened because experts say the disease usually grows slowly.
The debate about the benefits of PSA testing means not everyone likes it.
More than a decade ago, the Canadian Preventive Health Care Working Group recommended PSA screening because “The potential harm of screening outweighs the benefits.”
It holds this position, this Main issues The review pointed out that it was a false positive result and an overdiagnosis. PSA positive test results often lead to more tests, such as biopsy, which brings the risk of bleeding, infection and urinary incontinence.
Currently, the task force said, “There is no screening test that can accurately identify prostate cancer.” However, it added that several tests are being developed to improve the accuracy of PSA screening.
Meanwhile, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommends men aged 55 to 69 talk to healthcare providers about whether they should be screened.
Why was Biden's cancer not discovered earlier?
Experts say that because there are not many obvious symptoms, prostate cancer is prone to flying under the radar.
In February 2024, Biden was his last presidency. At that time, his doctor said “The body has not identified any new problems this year.”
Dr. Dana Rathkopf, a medical oncologist at Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, said she did not think she missed the diagnosis in an earlier exam.
“Cancer cells are confused,” she said in an interview with CBS News. “There are a lot of people who can visit it.” [the] The highest level of care and regular screening are still diagnosed with advanced disease. ”
Black said his PSA level could be “normal” if Biden was tested.
“Sometimes, aggressive prostate cancer does not do that much PSA,” he said.
What does treatment include?
Dickinson University of Calgary said prostate cancer that is in its early stages without spreading may only be monitored. He said it may not be harmful and therefore treating the patient will not help the patient.
Meanwhile, for high-risk cases, PSA is high, but cancer is limited to the prostate, and surgery or radiation is usually recommended for black.
In the case of disease spreading, he said radiation is often used with hormone therapy.
Hormone therapy reduces the amount of certain hormones in the body It usually helps prostate cancer cells grow. By doing so, prostate cancer can shrink or grow more slowly.
Dr. Peter Black, a urologist and director of the Vancouver Prostate Center, talked about the diagnosis of prostate cancer by former U.S. President Joe Biden.
This is Biden's type of treatment, and although Black says it usually reacts in the beginning, it's time it will continue to work.
Without knowing all the details of the Biden case, Black said that men with similar diagnoses usually survived the current treatment for about five years.
The five-year survival rate for people in the first three stages of the disease is close to 100%. According to Statistics Canada.
However, if cancer is diagnosed in stage 4 beyond the prostate, survival rate will drop to 41% over the next five years.
