Biden was likely battling prostate cancer from day one of his presidency, claims top oncologist
WASHINGTON, DC: A top oncologist, who served as a Covid-19 adviser in the Joe Biden administration, recently floated a new theory about his former boss' "aggressive" prostate cancer.
Dr Ezekiel Emanuel, who helped craft the Obama-era Affordable Care Act, claimed that the 82-year-old former president likely had cancer since the start of his presidency in 2021, the New York Post reported.
On May 18, Biden’s post-presidential office announced that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had metastasized to the bone.
The shocking diagnosis came just a few days after it was reported that the former commander-in-chief has urinary symptoms, which led doctors to find a “small nodule” on Biden’s prostate earlier this month, according to his staff.
Oncologist claims Joe Biden has likely been dealing with cancer for ‘a decade’
Considering the cancer spread to the bone and had a Gleason score of 9, several medical professionals hypothesized that the former president has had prostate cancer for a while.
Echoing the same sentiments, Dr Ezekiel Emanuel told MSNBC's 'Morning Joe' host Joe Scarborough that Joe Biden has likely been dealing with it since the beginning of his presidential term, more than four years ago, or even a decade.
“He’s had this for many years, maybe even a decade, growing there and spreading,” the oncologist told the host on Monday, May 19.
Scarborough stopped him to clarify, "So this is not speculation. If you have prostate cancer that has spread to the bone, then most certainly you are saying he had it when he was President of the United States."
"Oh, yeah. He did not develop it in the last 100-200 days," the expert said, before adding, "He had it while he was president. He probably had it at the start of his presidency in 2021. I don't think there's any disagreement about that."
Dr Ezekiel Emanuel expressed shock over why Joe Biden didn’t take PSA test
Further in the interview, Dr Ezekiel Emanuel pointed out that while several doctors advised against performing a prostate-specific antigen (PSA) test after the age of 70, Biden should have had those exams when he was younger.
“He was vice president and had a lot of exams under 70. So it’s a little surprising that they didn’t do it,” the oncologist added.
“And maybe President Biden decided he didn’t want the test. Many men do decide they don’t want a PSA, but this is also aggressive. When we talk about the aggressive part, what we mean is that the Gleason score, that score is from two up to 10. And he’s a nine. And that means that the cancer doesn’t look normal, it looks very abnormal, which is probably why it’s in the bone,” he continued.
Emanuel also pointed out that both former presidents Barack Obama and George W Bush underwent PSA exams while in office.
“I don’t know what president Biden and his doctor discussed, but I think you are hinting at the other element, which is that president Obama had this test, president Bush had this test,” he said.
The oncologist then went on to add, “It is a little surprising that the doctor didn’t take it. And if he took it and didn’t report it and it was elevated, that is another case of doctors not being straightforward with us.”
When pressed about exactly how many years Biden may have had the disease, Dr Emanuel said, “We don’t know, obviously. And it is a little surprising to many of us oncologists that he wasn’t diagnosed earlier.”
