Al Roker, who was diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2020, shares words of encouragement with Joseph Biden.

Al Roker is making sure Joseph Biden knows he’s not alone amid his recent prostate cancer diagnosis. 

On Friday, May 18, Biden’s personal office announced that the 82-year-old former president has been diagnosed with prostate cancer with a Gleason score of 9. 

“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management,” the statement read. “The President and his family are reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”

The very next day, Roker, 70, reflected on his journey with the disease, which began in 2020, on the TODAY show. 

“When I was diagnosed, I had an 8 on the Gleason scale, but they said they had caught it early, even though it was aggressive, so I had a fairly wide range of treatment options,” said Roker. 

The TV personality first announced he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer in November 2020. Later that month, he underwent surgery at New York City’s Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to remove his prostate and some of the surrounding tissue and lymph nodes. 

According to the Cleveland Clinic, a Gleason score is a grading system for prostate cancer that ranges from 1, when the cancer cells look the most like normal cells, to 10, when the cancer cells look very different from healthy cells. The lower the score, the slower the cells are likely to grow. 

In May 2021, Roker’s six-month checkup found nothing detectable in his prostate-specific antigen (PSA) level, meaning he was in the clear. At the time he told People magazine, he was “grateful” to be able to see his first grandchild. 

“If there’s any reason to make sure you’re as healthy as possible, it’s that,” he said. 

Roker, who has battled ongoing health issues throughout his life, also shared some words of encouragement with Biden in a post on X. 

“Mr. President. As I found out from my battle with prostate cancer, you are part of a group that no one wants to be part of,” he wrote of the cancer that plagues, on average, one in eight men. “But knowing you, you will face this latest challenge with courage, humor, and grace.”