Former President Biden’s cancer diagnosis reaffirms the danger of prostate cancer
CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. (WDEF)- On Sunday, the personal office of former President Joe Biden announced that he has been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer.
They say he was diagnosed following a discovery of a prostate nodule last week during a medical exam.
Dr. Amar Singh is an oncologist at Erlanger Hospital who is the Chair of the Urology Department at the College of Medicine at the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga and is the medical director for the urological oncology department.
He says that following the diagnosis of former President Joe Biden regarding his prostate cancer, he says that all men need to be aware of several dangers as it pertains to what this illness can cause.
Dr. Singh said, “He had one of the most aggressive forms of prostate cancer and it’s also spread to his bones.”
He says that the cancer is metastasizing in the former President’s bones, which leaves Biden in a tough position.
Dr. Singh said, “The goal at this point would be containment and comfort. So usually, given the current treatments we have now including multimodal therapy, radiation, systemic therapy, renal therapy, hormones, you can buy him a few years. It obviously takes an impact on quality of life.”
He says it is somewhat surprising that the cancer was not previously detected.
Dr. Singh said, “In his case that should have been probably picked up earlier. Number one, because he care he got as the president I’m sure he had physicals and things like that.”
However, he says it is hard to say for sure if that’s the case.
Dr. Singh said, “When it comes to any type of cancer diagnosis it’s very hard to play what I call the ‘retrospect horoscope’ where you can always say, “Yeah it was there or no, it was not there.”
Ultimately, he wants all men to make sure they are getting routine colonoscopies beginning at the age of 45.
They are recommended once every ten years, and Dr. Singh says that if something feels off, get it checked out.
He also added that obesity is the top risk factor for prostate cancer.
Dr. Singh said, “But the key thing here is that the earlier you screen, the earlier you pick up, the better the treatment options are and the thing can be cured.”
The American Cancer Society says one out of every 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer at some point in their life.
Several local representatives and senators have expressed their well wishes to the former President, including Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene who said she lost her father to cancer in 2021.
