A representative for former President Joe Biden said he last took a prostate-specific antigen blood test, commonly used to screen for prostate cancer, in 2014.
Although the exact date of the test wasn’t disclosed, Biden was around 72 years old at the time, which falls in line with current medical guidance and recommendations on who should take a test.
Current screening recommendations suggest men age 55 to 69 should discuss the benefits and harms of a PSA test with their doctor and make an individual decision when or if they need it. Men 70 and older should not receive PSA-based screening because of the risk of false positives, according to the United States Preventive Services Task Force.
“Prior to Friday, President Biden had never been diagnosed with prostate cancer,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
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Biden announced Sunday that he had an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.
A PSA screening is not a perfect test, medical experts say.
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The older a person is, the more the risk of false positives and unnecessary biopsies increases. Conversely, some people with cancer might have good PSA scores. PSA screening is highly debated among doctors in terms of when it’s appropriate to use.
Biden’s representatives said the former president had a routine physical last week and doctors discovered a small nodule in his prostate.
Since his diagnosis was revealed two days ago, President Donald Trump questioned the timing of the announcement and claimed that “somebody is not telling the facts.”
“I’m surprised that it wasn’t, you know — the public wasn’t notified a long time ago because to get to stage nine — that’s a long time,” Trump said Monday.
Biden last had a PSA blood test in 2014, following medical guidelines originally appeared on abcnews.go.com
