Joe Biden's announcement that he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer has revived questions about what health issues the former US president was dealing with while he was in the White House.
In a statement on Monday, Biden's office said the 82-year-old had received the diagnosis on Saturday after seeing a doctor for urinary symptoms.
Some doctors have expressed surprise that the aggressive form of cancer, which has spread to his bones, was not detected earlier.
Others pointed out that cancers can grow fast without the patient displaying symptoms - and that men over 70 are not routinely screened.
President Donald Trump told reporters on Monday his predecessor should have been more transparent with the public, seeming to imply that the cancer diagnosis had been covered up - a suggestion rejected by a Biden aide.
Trump says he thinks it is very sad and that he is surprised that the public wasn't notified a long time ago.
A Biden aide says the former president's prior medical check for prostate cancer was more than a decade ago.
He says Biden had a Prostate Specific Antigen test in 2014.
He prior to Saturday, President Biden had never been diagnosed with prostate cancer.
The cancer diagnosis comes amid reports that the Democrat's aides sought to conceal other deteriorating health conditions from the public ahead of the 2024 election.
[Source: BBC]
