Joe Biden’s Cancer Update: Memoir Promotion Scaled Back — What the Former President Said
It was the post nobody in Joe Biden’s orbit wanted him to have to write. On Sunday, 8 November 2026, the former president took to X with news about his health and his book — and the two, he explained, are now inseparable. His presidential memoir, Promise Me, America, is due out on 17 November. But the cancer he was diagnosed with while writing it will decide how much of the book he can go out and talk about.
BLUF: Former US President Joe Biden announced on Sunday, 8 November 2026, that his prostate cancer will limit how much he can promote his presidential memoir, Promise Me, America, which is published on 17 November. Writing on X, Biden, 83, said his doctors “continue to be encouraged” by how he has responded to treatment, but admitted “some days are better than others” and that he “won’t be able to do as many conversations about my book as I’d hoped”. Biden was diagnosed in May 2025 with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones; he has undergone hormone therapy and radiation, completing a course of radiation in October 2025.
At a Glance
- The announcement: In a post on X on Sunday, 8 November 2026, Joe Biden said his cancer means he will do fewer public conversations about his memoir than planned.
- His words: “Some days are better than others. It hasn’t stopped me. But sometimes it slows me down.”
- The book: Promise Me, America, Biden’s presidential memoir, is published on 17 November 2026 and covers his four years in the White House.
- The diagnosis: Biden revealed in May 2025 that he had been diagnosed with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones.
- Treatment so far: Hormone therapy and radiation; he completed a course of radiation in October 2025, and said in September 2026 that his doctors were encouraged by the results.
- The timing: Biden turns 84 on 20 November, three days after the book’s publication. He is the oldest living president.
What Biden said on Sunday
Biden’s post was short, plain and personal — the tone of a man talking directly to readers rather than through a spokesperson. He explained that the diagnosis came while the book was being written, and that the illness has shaped the pace of everything since.
“While writing the book, I was diagnosed with cancer, a disease known all too well to millions of Americans and their families,” he wrote. “My doctors continue to be encouraged by how I’ve responded to treatment. Some days are better than others. It hasn’t stopped me. But sometimes it slows me down.”
He closed with a note of hope rather than self-pity. “My presidential memoir, PROMISE ME, AMERICA, is coming out on November 17th. I hope you’ll read it. It covers my years as President.”
A diagnosis that arrived mid-manuscript
Biden announced his diagnosis in May 2025, less than four months after leaving the White House. His office said doctors had found a prostate nodule during a routine examination, and that the aggressive cancer had spread to his bones.
His treatment has included hormone therapy and radiation, which began in the autumn of 2025. In September 2026, Biden gave an update saying his doctors had seen the results they had hoped for from the radiation treatment as he continues to manage the disease.
His son Hunter told the BBC in August 2026 that the cancer had “metastasized into his bones and further”.
What Promise Me, America covers
The memoir revisits Biden’s four years in the White House, from January 2021 to January 2025, and the decisions that defined them. According to reporting on the book, it covers the COVID-19 pandemic, the effort to rebuild the US economy, the aftermath of the 6 January 2021 attack on the Capitol, the withdrawal from Afghanistan, and American support for Ukraine after Russia’s invasion.
It also deals with one of the most consequential decisions of his political life: his choice to end his 2024 re-election bid, and the private deliberations behind it. Biden has said little in public about that episode since leaving office, and the memoir is expected to be his fullest account of it. The book arrives roughly two weeks after the 3 November 2026 midterm elections, in which the Democrats took control of Congress.
Reaction to the announcement
On Facebook, posts sharing the update drew sharply divided responses — expressions of sympathy and well-wishes alongside partisan attacks.
There has been no announcement of a revised schedule of appearances. Biden did not say how many conversations he expects to hold or when they will take place — only that there will be fewer than he had hoped.
The Bidens and the bookshelf
The memoir is the latest in a run of books from the Biden family. Former first lady Jill Biden released her own book, A View from the East Wing, in June 2026. Joe Biden’s previous memoir, Promise Me, Dad, published in 2017, dealt with the death of his son Beau from brain cancer in 2015 — a loss that has shaped his public life and his advocacy on cancer research. That history gives Sunday’s announcement an added weight: Biden has spoken for years about cancer as a personal cause, not just a policy issue, and his own diagnosis has made that connection impossible to ignore.
For now, the book will have to do much of the talking.
People Also Ask
Why is Joe Biden scaling back his book tour?
Biden said on 8 November 2026 that his prostate cancer sometimes slows him down, so he will not be able to do as many public conversations about his memoir, Promise Me, America, as he had hoped. His doctors remain encouraged by his response to treatment, but he acknowledged that some days are harder than others.
When is Joe Biden’s memoir Promise Me, America released?
Promise Me, America is scheduled for release on 17 November 2026. It covers Biden’s four years as president, including the COVID-19 pandemic, the economy, the 6 January Capitol attack, the Afghanistan withdrawal, support for Ukraine, and his decision to end his 2024 re-election bid.
What type of cancer does Joe Biden have?
Biden was diagnosed in May 2025 with an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had spread to his bones. He has undergone hormone therapy and radiation, completing a course of radiation in October 2025. In September 2026 he said his doctors were encouraged by the results.
How old is Joe Biden?
Joe Biden is 83 and turns 84 on 20 November 2026, three days after his memoir is published. He is the oldest living president of the United States.