I did look into this somewhat. My first thought, when I heard the news, is why did it get to this stage and was not detected until very recently? I know I had PSA bloodwork twice a year when it started being a high number. And a digital exam as well.
But, if I don’t have to reach for conspiracy theories, I likely won’t. If he was being treated with hormone therapy already, I don’t see why they would suggest it now, since the diagnosis that was announced demonstrates that if he was having hormone therapy, it obviously failed. So why recommend hormone therapy now? Whatever the reason for his cognitive decline, it’s not likely from hormone therapy.
I understand the reality of the cognitive decline, but it seems very, very doubtful it was from hormone therapy. IMO. I’m not a doctor, but that just seems like a logical conclusion.
And it’s not necessary to reach for conspiracy. The health report a year ago, early 2024, showed no PSA bloodwork. I was not aware of it myself, until looking into yesterday but many doctors cease PSA blood work for men over 75, some by age 70. I don’t know if that was the case with Biden. He did have an enlarged prostate when examined in 2019.
Former President Joe Biden’s office says that he has been diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer and is reviewing treatment options with his doctors.
apnews.com
Former President
Joe Biden’s office said Sunday that
he has been diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer and is reviewing treatment options with his doctors.
Biden, 82, was having increasing urinary symptoms and was seen last week by doctors who found a prostate nodule. On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer and the cancer cells have spread to the bone, his office said in a statement.
“It’s a very common scenario,” said Dr. Matthew Smith of Massachusetts General Brigham Cancer Center. Men can “feel completely well and a diagnosis of metastatic prostate cancer could come as quite a surprise.”
Guidelines recommend against prostate cancer screening for men 70 and older so Biden may not have been getting regular PSA blood tests, Smith said. What’s more, while the PSA test can help flag some cancers in some men, it does not do a great job of identifying aggressive prostate cancer, Smith said….
Should older men get screened?
Screening with PSA blood tests can lead to unnecessary treatment with side effects that affect quality of life. Guidelines recommend against PSA screening for men 70 and older.
The PSA test looks for high levels of a protein that may mean cancer but can also be caused by less serious prostate problems or even vigorous exercise.
For men aged 55 to 69 the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force says screening “offers a small potential benefit of reducing the chance of death from prostate cancer in some men.” The task force adds that “many men will experience potential harms of screening, including false-positive results that require additional testing and possible prostate biopsy; overdiagnosis and overtreatment; and treatment complications, such as incontinence and erectile dysfunction.”
Is late-stage diagnosis more common in older men?
Yes. Of all men diagnosed with prostate cancer between 2017 and 2021 whose cancer staging was recorded, men 75 and older were more likely to be diagnosed with late-stage disease compared to those younger than 75.
One in five men 75 and older with prostate cancer were diagnosed with cancer that had metastasized, compared to just 6.3% of men under 75, according to an AP analysis of federal data from the U.S. Cancer Statistics Working Group.
Between 2017 and 2021, 90,551 men were diagnosed with late-stage prostate cancer, representing around 8.8% of prostate cancer diagnoses. More than 40% of them were 75 or older.
UVA Health’s Dr. Kirsten Greene explains why the aggressive disease may have been caught so late and what men should do to protect themselves.
news.virginia.edu
Q. How is it that Biden’s cancer was detected at such an advanced stage?
A. Everyone is asking me that same question. I have two speculations. One is that prostate cancer screening guidelines in the United States recommend stopping prostate cancer screening after age 75. It’s uncommon to continue to check a PSA every year beyond the age of 75 if your PSA has been fine prior to that.
The other possibility could be that his prostate cancer is so aggressive or de-differentiated that it actually stopped making PSA. It’s an unusual situation. Now, another (possibility) is … maybe he’d had biopsies in the past that didn’t show cancer, and the biopsy just happened to miss it.
Doctors not involved in Biden's care said his diagnoses shows the challenges of screening for prostate cancer.
www.usatoday.com
Doctors not involved in the former president's care said his diagnosis shows the nuance and challenges of screening for prostate cancer.
Some, including President
Donald Trump, have suggested that Biden likely knew about his cancer for a long time. But it's possible, several doctors said, that his tumor was missed or that he has a particularly aggressive form of cancer that was unlikely to be detected by routine testing.
Because prostate cancer is typically so slow-growing, men over 70 are not recommended for routine screening.
"He could be receiving the best medical care that we have to offer as a nation and not be screened for prostate cancer," said Dr. Michael Morris, a Memorial Sloan Kettering oncologist who specializes in treating men with prostate cancer. "Excellent care means not under-testing. It also means not over-testing."
www.aljazeera.com
