Hunter Biden says father’s cancer has spread, calls condition painful

Hunter Biden said his father Joe Biden’s prostate cancer has spread to other parts of his body and is causing him pain, giving a more personal account of the former president’s illness in a wide-ranging BBC Newsnight interview. He described watching the disease up close as “very sad to watch” and said the condition has become “very painful” and “very debilitating.”

Joe Biden’s office announced in May 2025 that the former president had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had already spread to his bones. That disclosure made clear the disease was advanced; Hunter Biden’s comments added that the cancer has metastasized further, underscoring the seriousness of the illness without changing the basic medical picture already made public.

Medical groups say that prostate cancer commonly spreads to the bones once it becomes metastatic. The American Cancer Society and ZERO Prostate Cancer note that treatment can ease symptoms and help patients live longer, but the disease is not considered curable after it has spread. Joe Biden’s reported Gleason score of 9, which his office disclosed in 2025, placed the cancer among the most aggressive forms.

The distinction between the office’s formal medical update and Hunter Biden’s emotional remarks matters because former presidents remain public figures whose health can shape confidence far beyond the family. Serious disclosures about a former president can feed wider questions about transparency, long-term treatment, and how much the public should know when a national leader faces a major illness. In this case, the personal account also arrives as Joe Biden continues to speak on public issues, keeping attention on both his condition and his role in the political conversation.

The BBC interview went beyond the cancer diagnosis. Hunter Biden also discussed Joe Biden’s declining health, the pardon his father issued him in December 2024, and whether he has political ambitions of his own. Those topics kept the focus on the Biden family’s place in national politics, even as the central fact remains the former president’s advanced cancer diagnosis and the painful course Hunter Biden said he is watching unfold.