Hunter Biden Opens Up About Former President Joe Biden's Cancer Treatment and Calls It 'Like Torture'

Hunter Biden has candidly described the profound emotional devastation of watching his father, former US President Joe Biden, endure gruelling cancer therapy, branding the ongoing medical regimen 'like torture'.

Speaking during an appearance on the Howie Mandel Does Stuff podcast released on 6 October 2026, the 56-year-old addressed the private reality of managing his father's illness while confronting his own acute fears of bereavement and maintaining his hard-won sobriety.

Joe Biden's office announced in May 2025 that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones. The announcement gave the cancer a Gleason score of 9 and said it appeared to be hormone-sensitive, allowing for treatment aimed at managing the disease.

Seeking to dispel persistent rumours of a fresh clinical deterioration, Hunter stressed that his father's medical status remained stable and that no new diagnosis had occurred. However, he acknowledged the relentless fear of losing his father while reflecting on the family's painful history with oncology following the 2015 death of his brother, Beau Biden.

Emphasising that a relapse would mean choosing death, Hunter placed his personal recovery alongside the immense challenge of supporting his ailing father.

Hunter Biden Explains His Father's Cancer Diagnosis and Treatment

Hunter sought to clarify the impression that his comments meant his father had received a new diagnosis. 'He's okay. Every time I say something, people, I think, confuse that there's some new diagnosis or not. There's not,' Hunter said.

He then described the illness and the difficulty of watching his father undergo treatment. 'He has stage four metastatic bone cancer, which you have to live with the rest of your life. And the treatment is just not ideal. It's like torture,' he said.

Joe Biden's office identified the original illness as prostate cancer that had metastasised to the bones. Hunter's description was his own wording during the interview, rather than the terminology used in the original announcement.

Hunter's comments offer a glimpse of the emotional burden a serious illness can place on a family. However, he did not provide a detailed account of his father's treatment regimen.

He also spoke about the fear of losing his father, acknowledging that the possibility of bereavement has become difficult to ignore. 'It's all fear-based. Fear that I've got that I'm losing my dad, which, you know, just by the actuarial table, I'm going to lose my dad,' he said.

Hunter Biden Discusses Addiction, Sobriety and Family Loss

The conversation also turned to Hunter's history of addiction and his determination to remain sober. He described the anxiety associated with his father's illness alongside his awareness of the consequences he believes another relapse could bring.

'If I use, it means that I'm choosing death,' Hunter said. 'I don't have any doubt in my mind about that, that there's no coming back for me for another relapse.'

Hunter said his focus remained on maintaining sobriety one day at a time. His remarks placed his father's illness alongside a separate personal challenge: protecting his recovery while coping with the fear of losing someone close to him.

The family has experienced a major cancer-related loss before. Hunter's older brother, Beau Biden, died in May 2015 at the age of 46 after battling brain cancer.

Beau's death was a significant event in Joe Biden's life and helped shape his public commitment to cancer research. That commitment included the Cancer Moonshot initiative, which sought to accelerate progress against cancer.

Hunter's remarks ultimately offered a personal account of the strain that a serious diagnosis can place on relatives. He described his father's condition as unchanged at the time of the conversation and emphasised the difficulty of watching him undergo treatment.

Joe Biden's official representatives have not released a revised medical statement since the interview's publication. Health analysts caution that assessing treatment tolerance and longevity requires evaluation by certified physicians.

Public reaction to the interview highlighted widespread empathy for families managing advanced cancer diagnoses alongside recovery. For now, the former president continues his prescribed therapeutic course while his family balances public scrutiny with private care.