Joe Biden has been diagnosed with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer.

Biden’s team shared a statement on Sunday that the former president was experiencing “increasing urinary symptoms” ahead of his diagnosis, which was characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (grade group 5) with “metastasis to the bone.”

“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive, which allows for effective management. The president and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians,” the statement said.

JOE BIDEN DIAGNOSED WITH ‘AGGRESSIVE FORM’ OF PROSTATE CANCER WITH METASTASIS TO THE BONE

Biden’s ranking of 9 on the Gleason scale, a grading system for prostate cancer severity, has sparked concerns, as it correlates with high-grade cancer.

Dr. Arpeet Shah, a urologist with Associated Urological Specialists in Illinois, explained in an interview with Fox News Digital how the grading system indicates the aggressiveness of the disease.

“It’s based on what the cancer cells look like under a microscope – specifically, how different they look from normal prostate cells,” he said. (Shah was not involved in Biden’s care.)

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Pathologists assign two numbers from 1 to 5, based on the most common and second-most common patterns present in the tissue.

The lower the grade, the more normal the cancer cells look, according to Cleveland Clinic.

Pathologists and cancer specialists examine cancerous cells in the prostate tissue to determine the Gleason score. (iStock)

Descriptions of the grades are listed below.

Grade 1 – Cancer cells look like normal cells.

Grades 2 to 4 – Cancer cells in the tissue look less like normal cells.

Grade 5 – Cancer cells look very abnormal.

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The largest areas with cancer are graded and then added together to determine a Gleason score, which typically ranges from 6 to 10.

“The higher the score, the more aggressive the cancer is likely to be,” Shah said.

Biden’s Gleason score of 9 in grade group 5 indicates an “aggressive” and fast-growing cancer, experts say. (iStock)

Below is a breakdown of Gleason score ranges.

Gleason score of 6: Cancer is low-grade and slow-growing.

Gleason score of 7: Cancer is intermediate and more likely to grow or spread over time.

Gleason score of 8 to 10: Cancer is high-grade and may need more aggressive treatment.

The system is “one of the key tools” experts use to “help guide treatment decisions and to have meaningful conversations with patients about their options,” Shah commented.

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“It’s important to highlight the importance of ‘early’ here,” he said. “Had President Biden undergone regular prostate cancer screening with a PSA blood test and digital rectal exam, his diagnosis might have been detected sooner.”

In an appearance on “The Big Weekend Show” on Sunday, Fox News medical contributor and board-certified radiologist Dr. Nicole Saphier noted that much like breast cancer, prostate cancer comes in different forms and can be treated “very differently” per case.

Saphier confirmed that Biden’s metastasized cancer is stage 4, which “significantly” decreases the chance of survival.

“No two cases are exactly the same,” she said. “But the one good thing that they did mention about President Biden’s case is that it’s hormone-sensitive.”

“We have so many treatments these days that you can actually live for quite a long time with stage 4 cancers.”

This form can be treatable through surgery or medication that will stop the testosterone production that fuels cancer growth.

“[Stage 4] is the worst-case scenario when you’re talking about cancer, but we have so many treatments these days that you can actually live for quite a long time with stage 4 cancers,” Saphier said.

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“In his case, because it is hormone-sensitive, there are treatment methods,” she continued. 

“It’s never going to cure him. He’s never not going to have stage 4 cancer. But he could get to the point where he has no evidence of disease or certain no progression of disease. And at this point, that’s what our goal is.”

Fox News’ Stepheny Price and Peter Doocy contributed to this report.

Weight-loss medications known as glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) agonists, which have gained popularity for treating type 2 diabetes and obesity, have been shown to have the surprising secondary benefit of reducing alcohol intake.

A team of international researchers from Ireland and Saudi Arabia followed 262 adult patients with obesity who started taking two GLP-1 medications: liraglutide or semaglutide.

Among the regular drinkers, weekly alcohol intake decreased by 68%, from approximately 23 units of alcohol to around 8 units.

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The findings were recently published in the journal Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism and were also presented last week at the European Congress on Obesity in Spain.

GLP-1 agonists mimic a hormone called GLP-1, which is released from the gastrointestinal system after eating, according to study co-author Carel Le Roux, a professor at University College Dublin.

These medications activate GLP-1 receptors in the brain, decreasing the sense of “reward” people feel after eating or drinking, eventually leading to reduced cravings for both food and alcohol, he told Fox News Digital.

“It is this commonality of function that suggests the GLP-1 receptors in the brain may be a therapeutic target for not just the disease of obesity, but also for alcohol use disorder,” the professor said.

Study findings

Before the participants started the weight-loss drugs, they self-reported their weekly alcohol intake, then were categorized as non-drinkers, rare drinkers or regular drinkers.

Approximately 72% had at least two follow-up visits and 68% reported regular alcohol consumption.

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After starting the weight-loss medications, the participants’ weekly average alcohol intake decreased by almost two-thirds overall — from approximately 11 units of alcohol to four units after four months of treatment with the GLP-1 agonists.

The reduction in alcohol use was comparable to the decrease that can be achieved by nalmefene, a drug that decreases the “buzz” feeling in people with alcohol use disorder in Europe, according to the researchers.

Among the regular drinkers, weekly alcohol intake decreased by 68%, from approximately 23 units of alcohol to around 8 units. (iStock)

For the 188 patients who were followed over an average of four months, none had increased their alcohol intake after starting the weight-loss medications.

Patients reported that after an evening meal, they were too full to have their usual drink — and when they did drink, they reported becoming full extremely quickly and drinking at a slower pace, Le Roux noted.

“The findings in this study suggest that we may have just found a therapeutic target for alcohol use disorder.”

This suggests that the experience was less enjoyable, partly due to the reduced rate of alcohol absorption.

Some patients also reported that they didn’t enjoy the flavor of the alcoholic beverages as much, and also that hangovers were much worse.

All of these experiences showed that the weight-loss medications create “guard rails” that prevent most patients from drinking excessively, giving them a degree of control over their alcohol intake, according to Le Roux.

After starting the weight-loss medications, the participants’ weekly average alcohol intake decreased by almost two-thirds overall. (iStock)

“The findings in this study suggest that we may have just found a therapeutic target for alcohol use disorder — the GLP-1 receptor,” the professor told Fox News Digital.

“This finding potentially opens the possibility of an entirely new pharmacological treatment paradigm, which could be used in conjunction with conventional methods, such as behavior therapy and group support.”

Potential limitations

The study was limited by its relatively small number of patients, the researchers acknowledged.

Also, the researchers were not able to verify the participants’ self-reported alcohol intake, and roughly one-third of them were not available for follow-up.

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There was also no control group, which means the researchers couldn’t prove that taking weight-loss medication reduces alcohol intake.

The main advantage of GLP-1 agonists is that they only need to be taken once a week and continue to work for the entire week. (iStock)

“Randomized, controlled trials with diverse patient populations — including patients diagnosed with alcohol use disorder — are needed to provide the quality and quantity of data that could be used to support an application for licensing the medication for the treatment of alcohol use disorder,” Le Roux said.

(One such trial is currently underway in Denmark.)

Study implications

With the current medications available to treat alcohol use disorder, the “major problem” is compliance, Le Roux said — “because the cravings for alcohol tend to come in waves.”

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“This means a patient might be fully committed to treatment at one point in the week, but then stop taking the medication later in the week when a craving comes,” the professor added.

“This research suggests a promising ancillary benefit of GLP-1 analogs, potentially influencing cravings for alcohol and offering a new avenue for managing alcohol use disorder,” a physician said. (iStock)

There are currently three FDA-approved medications to treat alcohol use disorder: naltrexone (which helps decrease cravings by reducing the “buzz” feeling that comes with drinking alcohol); disulfiram (which helps some people avoid alcohol by making them feel sick when they drink), and acamprosate (which restores the balance of hormones in the brain to reduce cravings), according to the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism.

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But less than 10% of people with alcohol use disorder get the proper treatment, with many resuming use within the first year of treatment, past research shows.

The main advantage of the GLP-1 agonists is that they only need to be taken once a week and continue to work for the entire week.

For the 188 patients who were followed over an average of four months, none had increased their alcohol intake after starting the weight-loss medications. (iStock)

Outside experts say the study’s findings highlight the potential of weight-loss medications to help treat alcohol use disorder.

“This research suggests a promising ancillary benefit of GLP-1 analogs, potentially influencing cravings for alcohol and offering a new avenue for managing alcohol use disorder,” Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, obesity medicine physician at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, who was not part of the study, told Fox News Digital.

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“While the exact mechanisms are still being explored, the findings contribute to our understanding of the broader benefits of GLP-1 analogs beyond obesity treatment,” Stanford added.

Former President Joe Biden was diagnosed with an “aggressive form” of prostate cancer that has a five-year survival rate of between 30% and 40%.

The former president’s prostate cancer is characterized by a Gleason score of 9 and Grade Group 5 with bone metastasis, indicating that it is “pretty far advanced,” Fox News senior medical analyst Dr. Marc Siegel said on ‘Fox Report.’

“It’s the most aggressive type,” Siegel said. “That means it has the highest risk of spread — which obviously he has had.”

Biden is also presenting with urinary symptoms, which is another sign that the cancer is advanced. Prostate cancer often presents as asymptomatic in its early stages, he said. 

JOE BIDEN DIAGNOSED WITH ‘AGGRESSIVE FORM’ OF PROSTATE CANCER WITH METASTASIS TO THE BONE

“This was found by physical examination by a prostate exam,” Siegel said. “A lot of times we find an elevation in prostate-specific antigen, PSA, and then we go after it… I mean, he must have had the best possible care here. I’m a little taken aback that it’s this far advanced.”

Siegel said he conducts a prostate-specific antigen, or PSA, test on every male over the age of 45 years old. The test measures how much PSA is in the blood and is primarily used to screen for prostate cancer, according to Mayo Clinic. 

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While the PSA test is not always a perfect indicator of prostate cancer, someone who has a rise in PSA automatically gets an MRI, Siegel said. After the MRI, a decision is made about whether to conduct a biopsy.

More than 80% of men over the age of 80 years old have some prostate cancer cells in their body, according to Siegel.

“It would be really surprising if they weren’t doing a very close screening on this because everybody knows in the medical community that this is the one cancer in men you really look out for,” he said. “… He doesn’t seem to have a lot of risk factors that I would think about other than age, but age is enough and he’s 82, so that’s a big risk factor.”

Doctors will likely treat Biden with hormone therapy, Siegel said. They may also attempt to radiate the lesion found on the bone or remove the prostate altogether.

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“Sometimes they decide to do more than one therapy,” Siegel said. “They might try to take the prostate out, do radiation and the hormone therapy altogether. That’s not uncommon.”

There are two types of medications used to treat this type of advanced prostate cancer — Lupron, which stops testosterone production, and Casodex, which stops testosterone from binding. Side effects of the medication can leave people feeling “fatigued and listless,” according to Siegel.

The PSA test measures how much PSA is in the blood and is primarily used to screen for prostate cancer. (iStock)

“The other thing I’m concerned about is bone pain, because those metastases to the bone can be pretty painful,” he said.

If the cancer is caught early while its still localized to the prostate gland, it’s curable “most of the time,” Siegel said.

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“The goal is to get it before it leaves the prostate,” Siegel said. “When it’s left the prostate, it becomes much more difficult to cure.”