Former President Joe Biden finished a weekslong course of radiation therapy Monday for Stage 4 prostate cancer that has spread to his bones.
Biden, 82, celebrated the milestone at Penn Medicine Radiation Oncology in Philadelphia by taking part in the traditional ringing of the bell, a ritual that marks the end of treatment for a cancer patient.
“Rung the Bell!” Ashley Biden, the former president’s daughter, wrote in an Instagram post with a video of her father clanging the silver bell as hospital staff cheered him on.
“Thank you to the incredible doctors, nurses, and staff at Penn Medicine,” Ashley continued. “We are so grateful.”
A Biden spokesperson confirmed in a statement to CBS News that the former president had completed several weeks worth of radiation therapy at the Philadelphia hospital, which his office announced he was undergoing on Oct. 11.
It’s unclear if Biden, who turns 83 next month, will undergo any other procedures or forms of treatment for his cancer diagnosis.
In May, Biden was diagnosed an aggressive form of prostate cancer that had metastasized to the bone.
The disease was characterized by his doctors as high-grade, with a Gleason score of nine out 10, though hormone-sensitive — allowing for management through medication and radiation.
Concerns over Biden’s health and age mounted in the final year of his presidency, and the cancer diagnosis prompted renewed concern over whether the commander in chief was suffering from a medical issue while in office.
Biden, looking noticeably frail, was seen in public Saturday for the first time since his office announced the radiation therapy.
The former president had been attending evening Mass at St. Joseph on the Brandywine, a Roman Catholic church in Greenville, Del., he has frequented for decades.
“Dad has been so damn brave throughout his treatment,” Ashley wrote in a separate Instagram post Monday, including a photo of herself alongside Joe, former first lady Jill Biden and two of the ex-president’s grandchildren.
“Grateful,” she added.
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