Politics
Leading Urology Expert Suggests Biden Could Have Had Cancer For ‘5-10 Years’
Dr. David Shusterman, a board certified urological surgeon who teaches urology to up-and-coming physicians, said during an appearance on NewsNation that former President Joe Biden could have had cancer for up to “five to ten years” given the nature of the diagnosis.
The former president’s office announced Sunday that Biden had been diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer. With a Gleason Score of nine, the former president’s cancer is more likely to spread and expand.
“I have to say that in my expertise as a urologist, prostate cancer like this doesn’t come on just overnight. This happens over a long period of time. And typically you would see a PSA elevation, you would do a biopsy, and then you would do a treatment for the prostate cancer,” Dr. Shusterman told NewsNation.
“Then after the prostate cancer is treated, it can actually get worse and spread to different parts of the body. And so it’s very unlikely that someone could get annual checkups and not notice a PSA elevation over the past.”
Shusterman then recalled his experience working in VA hospitals, stating that Biden’s diagnosis is consistent any patient who “hasn’t had medical attention in 10 years, presents to an emergency room with bone pain, and then they find that it’s metastatic prostate cancer.”
US President Joe Biden leaves 10 Downing Street after meeting with British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak (L) on July 10, 2023 in London, England.
The urology expert continued, “But in the modern age of medicine, especially the fact that he was a former president, he had intensive state-of-the-art care where we can see prostate cancer 10 years in the past. So this is, I mean, it’s very unusual to hear that someone has prostate cancer where they’re annually being followed up.”
Shusterman stated that detecting cancer with a Gleason 9 score is “just pretty much unheard of in this day and age of medicine,” adding that such a diagnosis would be shocking even in inner cities with lack of access to preventative medical care. “Even in a medically neglected population, it would be surprising to have a surprise diagnosis with a Gleason score of 9,” he said.
The doctor was then asked whether he was suggesting that Biden was battling cancer while he was serving in the Oval Office. “You believe that he knew that he had prostate cancer and even potentially as he was running in 2020 before he assumed office?”
Shusterman replied by stating that this was the “most likely” scenario. “Well, most likely he had prostate cancer for a long time and aggressive prostate cancers such as this at age 80 grows over a long period of time. I mean usually it takes from the first diagnosis of prostate cancer to the to spread would take five to ten years even in the most aggressive form.”
In a follow-up question, Shusterman was asked whether the cancer itself, or any treatments he was undergoing in secret, could have affected his cognitive ability. “Yes, absolutely,” the urology expert replied without question.
“Because what happens is when prostate cancer becomes, like say you get treated for prostate cancer and then the prostate cancer recurs, what you would do is you would start someone on a testosterone blocking hormone such as Lupron. Because Lupron acts to lower your testosterone, it gives you symptoms of depression, lower energy, fatigue,” he said.
“So there’s a lot of things that go with being on Lupron treatment. So, Lupron is a class of medicine that just chemically castrates someone so that the prostate cancer doesn’t spread. And so, Lupron was likely used on Joe Biden,” Shusterman speculated.
The former president and his family are meeting with doctors and considering “multiple treatment options,” including hormone treatment for the cancer, a source familiar with the former president’s thinking told NBC News.
Biden is currently resting at his home in Wilmington, Delaware, the source said. It is currently unclear where the former president intends to seek treatment.
“Gleason nine is by definition, aggressive, but you don’t know how bad it is unless you know what the PET scan looks like,” said Dr. Alan Tan, genitourinary section lead at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.
Prostate cancer specialists and experts said Biden’s diagnosis is not necessarily a death sentence. If he responds well to treatment, he could live for several years with the disease in a controlled state. Most men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer do not die from it, Tan said.
Approximately 1 in 8 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer during their lifetime, according to the American Cancer Society. The cancer is common in older men, and it is the second-leading cause of cancer death in American men, with lung cancer being the first, according to the society.
