Joe Biden cancer spread reaches bones, Hunter says Friday

Hunter Biden said Joe Biden cancer has spread to “his bones and further,” placing renewed attention on the 83-year-old former president’s health.

Hunter describes bone spread

The comments, made in an interview aired Friday, offered a more detailed public account of Biden’s condition than his family has previously given. Hunter Biden described the illness as “very painful” and “very debilitating in many respects,” while adding: “But he’s still out there.”

The account puts Biden’s health back in view as he tries to define a postpresidency shaped by age, illness and a limited public calendar. A Biden spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment, leaving Hunter Biden’s remarks as the clearest new statement from the family.

November memoir adds timing

Biden recently announced plans to publish a presidential memoir, “Promise Me, America,” in November, shortly after the 2026 midterm elections. The timing gives the book political weight even as the former president has appeared less frequently in public since leaving office.

In a promotional video for the book, Biden spoke from a chair directly to the camera. His voice appeared upbeat but tired, and the video carried subtitles; he said in the clip that his cancer treatment was “going really well.”

Diagnosis followed White House exit

Representatives for Biden disclosed last year that he had metastatic prostate cancer, less than six months after he left office following months of scrutiny over his health and age. A spokesperson said at the time that Biden underwent hormone therapy and radiation treatment in 2025.

The American Cancer Society estimates that people diagnosed with metastatic prostate cancer have a 37% chance of being alive five years later, compared with higher survival rates for prostate cancer that has not spread to distant parts of the body. The figure is a population estimate, not a prognosis for any individual patient.

Appearances remain selective

Biden has kept a narrower public schedule in recent months. He attended the Barack Obama Presidential Center dedication in June and delivered the keynote address at an event for Maryland Democrats in July.

He did not attend the recent funeral for Sen. Lindsey Graham, Republican of South Carolina, in Washington, D.C. Jill Biden, who has been promoting her own book, said in a podcast interview last week: “Anybody who’s gone through this cancer journey, You know it’s constant, it’s daily, and I think it’s challenging.”

Health shapes political reach

If Biden’s treatment continues to allow occasional appearances, the immediate effects would remain mostly personal and political: limited direct macroeconomic impact, a controlled role for Biden in Democratic messaging, and continued attention from the publishing and paid-events industries around presidential memoirs. Under that scenario, the book would become the main vehicle for his account of his presidency.

If his health restricts travel further, the effect would shift toward absence rather than advocacy. Global markets would have no obvious direct channel from that change, but Democratic organizers would lose a familiar surrogate, while publishers, event hosts and donors would adjust expectations around how much public promotion Biden can do before and after the November release.