Joe Biden's ‘last-known’ prostate cancer screening was in 2014 when Barack Obama was the US president

Days after announcing that former US President Joe Biden was diagnosed with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer, his office on Tuesday said that his “last known” Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) blood test was in 2014. During that time, Barack Obama was the President of the United States.

“President Biden's last known PSA was in 2014. Prior to Friday, President Biden had never been diagnosed with prostate cancer,” the statement read. The brief statement from Biden's office did not declare the results of his 2014 Prostate-Specific Antigen (PSA) blood test.

Biden's aides shared new details about his diagnosis in response to growing scrutiny over his health during his presidency and doubts that the disease could have advanced so significantly without earlier detection. While treatment may help manage Biden's cancer, it has spread to his bones and is now considered incurable.

Biden's office earlier statement

“Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms. On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone,” the statement had said.

Joe Biden on his Cancer diagnosis

“Cancer touches us all,” Biden posted on X on Monday, adding he and his wife, former first lady Jill Biden, “have learned that we are strongest in the broken places. Thank you for lifting us up with love and support.”

Trump on Biden's cancer diagnosis

"It takes a long time to get to that situation,” Trump said during an appearance at the White House, adding he was "surprised that the public wasn't notified a long time ago. It's a very sad situation, and I feel very badly about it.” 

Biden's cancer diagnosis was made public on Sunday, sparking a wave of sympathy as well as accusations from some critics, including his successor, Donald Trump, that the former president and his team concealed the illness during his time in office, given how advanced the cancer was at the time of the announcement. 

(With inputs from PTI)