Hunter Biden has offered one of the most direct public accounts yet of his father’s ongoing battle with cancer.
In a recent interview with the BBC, the younger Biden described the progression of former President Joe Biden’s prostate cancer in stark terms. The disease, first publicly disclosed in May 2025 as an aggressive form that had already spread to the bones, has continued to advance.
“The cancer has spread, it’s metastasized into his bones and further,” Hunter said. “It’s very painful and it’s very debilitating in many respects.”
He added that watching his father’s condition has been emotionally difficult. “It’s really, really hard, and it’s really sad to watch,” he told the interviewer. “The only thing that I’d say about my dad, about his health right now, is I wish he would complain more. Because it’s not good.”
The Diagnosis and What Followed
Joe Biden, now 83, was diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer in May 2025, shortly after leaving the White House. At the time of diagnosis, the cancer had already metastasized to his bones. He has undergone radiation therapy and other treatments since then. His wife, Jill Biden, has previously described the illness as something he will “forever live with.”
Despite the seriousness of the diagnosis, the former president has continued limited public appearances and remains engaged on issues important to him. Hunter noted that his father is “still out there” and “still doing his thing.”
“He so believes in this country,” Hunter said. “And as long as he’s alive, I promise you, he is going to continue to fight.”
A Son’s Perspective
Hunter’s comments stood out for their personal tone. He spoke not only as a political figure’s son but as a family member watching a parent endure significant pain. He described Joe Biden as remaining the center of the family — “the best father, the best husband, the best grandfather.”
The interview also touched on other difficult subjects, including the stress Hunter believes his own legal and personal troubles placed on his father in earlier years. On the health front, however, the focus remained clear: the cancer is progressing, the physical toll is substantial, and the family is navigating it day by day.
A Continuing Battle
Prostate cancer in older men can vary widely in its course. In Biden’s case, the aggressive nature of the disease and its spread to bone have made the fight more challenging. Treatment continues, and those close to him have emphasized that he remains active within the limits of his condition.
Hunter Biden’s update does not change the medical facts already known, but it does add a rare, unfiltered window into how the illness is being experienced privately. For a man who spent decades in public life, the quiet daily reality of pain and limitation is now part of the story his family is living.
As Hunter put it simply: the situation is not good — and his father, true to form, is not one to complain about it.