SEEN THROUGH the cold lens of statistics, Joe Biden’s statement on May 18th that he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer is not all that surprising. In America prostate cancer is the second-most commonly diagnosed sort behind breast cancer. (In England it takes the top spot.) Around one man in eight will be diagnosed in their lifetimes. As with most cancers age is the biggest risk, though family history and black ethnicity are others. Younger men can get unlucky and suffer, too. In 2024 Sir Chris Hoy, a British Olympic cyclist, announced that he had an aggressive and terminal form of the disease. Ultra-fit and aged just 48 at the time, Sir Chris was not, on the face of it, at high risk.