WASHINGTON, DC, USA - January 31, 2024: U.S. President Joe Biden speaks to reporters before departing on Marine One. (Photo credit: Jonah Elkowitz / Shutterstock)
Former President Joe Biden, 83, says his battle with prostate cancer will force him to scale back promotion of his upcoming memoir as he continues treatment.
In a lengthy Sunday post on X, Biden told followers he would not be able to do as many conversations about the book as he had hoped, though he said he was optimistic the writing would carry its own weight.
“Some days are better than others. It hasn’t stopped me. But sometimes it slows me down,” Biden wrote.
He added that his doctors remain encouraged by how he has responded to treatment, and he thanked the public for their prayers and well wishes, NBC News reported.
The memoir, “Promise Me, America,” arrives Nov. 17. Its publisher, Hachette Book Group, says the book covers Biden’s campaign, his presidency and his wrenching decision in the summer of 2024 to abandon his reelection bid. Biden then endorsed his vice president, Kamala Harris, who went on to lose to Donald Trump.
An excerpt published by The Atlantic shows Biden accusing Trump of leading an insurrection on Jan. 6, 2021.
Biden’s office disclosed in May 2025 that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive prostate cancer that had spread to his bones, with a Gleason score of 9. He has since gone through radiation and hormone therapy, and that September he had Mohs surgery to remove skin cancer.
His son Hunter offered a more graphic account of his father’s health in an August interview.
“The cancer has spread, metastasized into his bones and further,” Hunter Biden told the BBC.
He described the illness as very painful and debilitating, called it sad to watch and said he wished his father would complain more about it, adding that the situation is not good.
Former first lady Jill Biden previously told NBC News she expects her husband to live with cancer for the rest of his life.
Biden’s son Beau died of brain cancer in 2015 at age 46.