Dr. Alexander Kutikov, the chair of the Department of Urology at the Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, told NBC10 on Sunday that former President Joe Biden is facing a "very rare" form of prostate cancer, which he classified as Stage 4.
Earlier on Sunday, Biden's personal office announced a statement saying the former president had been diagnosed with prostate cancer that has "a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone.”
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WATCH HEREKutikov said that, in layman's terms, that means that Biden has high-risk cancer, which is unusual for a prostate cancer diagnoses. Between 5 to 8% of men who are diagnosed with prostate cancer have already had it metastasized, meaning it has spread to other parts of the body.
"So, actually, quite a rare scenario," Kutikov said. "The majority of the cancers are very low-risk. In fact, about half of the prostate cancers that get treated in the United State don't need to be treated immediately."
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A Gleason score is a score doctor's give based on how the similar the cancerous cells looked compared to regular cells, Kutikov said. With a Gleason score of 9, Biden has one of the highest a person can get, with ten being the highest.
The Gleason score does not indicate a stage or how much the cancer has spread, but since the cancer has spread to the bone, that would be considered Stage 4, Kutikov said.
"The fact that the team has told us that the cancer has spread to the bone, stages it as a Stage 4 cancer," he said.
"So, this is a very rare subtype, and a very rare scenario that the president is facing," Kutikov added.
Prostate cancer is diagnosed to around 300,000 men per year in the United States, with many men going asymptomatic before diagnosis.
However, Biden's office said that he had doctors look at his prostate after experiencing "increasing urinary symptoms," which are very common in older men and does not necessarily indicate cancer, Kutikov said.
That's why it's important to get tested, he noted.
In terms of treatment, Biden's office said his cancer is aggressive but appears to be hormone-sensitive, and that he and his family are evaluating treatment options.
But Kutikov said Biden's cancer is "manageable."
"It's manageable. This is not a situation, as some cancers are, where we're fighting to keep someone with us through the next year," Kutikov said. "Treatment now is an investment for years from now and to make sure that the president is healthy and is with us."
