Hunter Biden has offered a deeply personal update on his father’s battle with prostate cancer, revealing that the disease has spread further and is causing the former president significant pain.
During an interview with Paddy O’Connell for BBC Politics and BBC News, Hunter spoke candidly about the effect Joe Biden’s illness has had on their family.
“It’s really tough, Paddy,” he said. “That’s the real answer.”
Hunter described his father’s condition as painful and debilitating, while revealing that he wishes the former president would speak more openly about what he is enduring.
Joe Biden’s prostate cancer diagnosis was publicly announced by his personal office in May 2025.
The 83-year-old had been evaluated after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms, and doctors discovered a prostate nodule. His cancer was described as an aggressive form of the disease with a Gleason score of 9 and… Continue reading… ↓
Continue Reading →
Pages: 1 2
a Grade Group 5 classification.
The cancer had already metastasized to his bones when the diagnosis was disclosed.
“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management,” Biden’s office said at the time.
His family began reviewing treatment options with his physicians following the diagnosis.
Biden later addressed the announcement in a message posted on X.
“Cancer touches us all,” he wrote. “Jill and I have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support.”
More than a year after that initial disclosure, Hunter has now provided a more sobering description of his father’s health.
“The cancer has spread. It’s metastasised into his bones and further,” he told the BBC.
“It’s very painful. And it’s very debilitating in many respects. But he’s still out there.”
Hunter then shared the wish he has for his father as the family continues facing the illness.
“The only thing that I say about my dad, about his health right now, is I wish he would complain more because it’s not good,” he said.
The man Hunter calls his family’s “rock”
Hunter explained that his father remains at the center of the Biden family, not because of his years in public office but because of the role he has played in the lives of his children, grandchildren and great-grandchild.
“He is our rock,” Hunter said. “He has been there for each one of us in a way that is hard for me to even possibly articulate and explain.”
He also asked people to look beyond their political opinions when considering the former president as a husband, father and grandfather.
“Whatever you think about his politics or the decisions that he made, I can tell you this,” Hunter said. “He’s the best father, the best husband, the best grandfather of anyone that I’ve ever read about, heard about, or even seen in a movie.”
Hunter acknowledged how painful it has been to witness his father’s illness.
“It’s really hard, Paddy, and it’s really sad to watch,” he said.
Despite the progression of the disease, Hunter said Biden remains active and committed to the country.
“He’s still doing this thing that he so believes in this country,” Hunter said. “And as long as he’s alive, I promise you he’s going to continue to fight.”
His comments presented a difficult contrast between the former president’s determination to remain engaged and the serious physical pain his son says he is experiencing.
Jill Biden previously discussed the effect of the illness and its treatment during an appearance on The View in June.
She said her husband was continuing with his schedule but had slowed down.
“I mean, Stage 4 cancer is — and he’s 83 — so, I think the mix of everything and the medications that he’s taken has made life a little more difficult these days,” she said.
Cancer’s painful history within the Biden family
Joe Biden’s diagnosis carries added emotional weight because his son Beau Biden died from brain cancer in 2015 at the age of 46.
Beau was an Iraq War veteran and served as Delaware’s attorney general.
Cancer also became an important part of Joe Biden’s public work years before he received his own diagnosis. In 2016, then-President Barack Obama asked him to lead a White House task force dedicated to finding a cure for the disease.
Biden renewed that effort as president in 2022 through the Cancer Moonshot initiative. The program established a goal of reducing the cancer death rate by at least 50 percent over 25 years.
Questions have also been raised about how long Biden may have had prostate cancer before it was publicly disclosed.
Dr. Ezekiel J. Emanuel, an oncologist and vice provost at the University of Pennsylvania, said Biden likely had the disease during his presidency.
“He probably had it at the start of his presidency in 2021,” Emanuel said. “He did not develop it in the last 100 to 200 days.”
The information provided did not establish when the cancer first developed.
Online reactions to Hunter’s interview included messages of sympathy and prayers for the former president, alongside questions about the timing of his diagnosis.
One viewer wrote that their “heart goes out” to Biden, while another said they wished he had been able to enjoy more time after leaving the presidency.
A commenter from Canada praised Biden’s “strength, class and bravery” and wished for him to be surrounded by those closest to him.
For Hunter, however, the update was not about public debate. It was about watching the person he considers his family’s foundation endure an illness that has become increasingly painful.
His message also emphasized that his father has no intention of giving up. Despite the progression of the cancer and its debilitating effects, Hunter said Joe Biden remains determined to continue fighting.
