Joe Biden last screened for prostate cancer in 2014

The diagnosis raised questions about how the most powerful man in the world could have learned so late that he was suffering from a fairly common type of cancer in men his age.

Former President Joe Biden’s last known prostate-cancer blood screening test was performed in 2014, according to his spokesman, indicating that he wasn’t screened for the cancer during his four years as president.

On Sunday, Biden’s office said that he has an aggressive form of prostate cancer that has spread to the bone. The diagnosis raised questions about how the most powerful man in the world, with the best healthcare at his disposal, could have learned so late that he was suffering from a fairly common type of cancer in men his age.

It remains unclear if Biden, as president, decided to forgo the screening for prostate-specific antigen or if his medical team made that decision without consulting him. His physician, Dr Kevin O’Connor, hasn’t responded to requests for comment.

Former President Joe Biden, with wife Jill, at the funeral for Pope Francis in Rome last month Picture: AFP

Biden hadn’t previously been diagnosed with prostate cancer, the spokesman said. Many prostate cancers in the US are detected with a blood test that measures prostate-specific antigen, or PSA. The test is cheap and can help find potential cancer before symptoms appear.

The US Preventive Services Task Force, a government-backed volunteer panel of experts that makes preventive-health recommendations, advises against PSA screening for men ages 70 and above, based on concerns about false positives and overtreating low-risk forms of the disease. Other groups recommend that men make a decision on whether to consider screening with their doctors, depending on their personal health and other factors.

The calculus about whether to undergo PSA screening may be different for a sitting president.

President Trump, who is 78, is outside the age range guidance given by the US Preventative Services Task Force but continues to be screened for prostate cancer, according to his doctor.

Biden was serving as vice president in 2014 and would have been either 71 or 72 years old the last time he was known to be tested, depending on which month the test was administered.

Dow Jones