Scott Adams, the writer and illustrator of the Dilbert comic strip, revealed that he has terminal prostate cancer.
Adams, 67, shared the news Monday, May 19, during a YouTube livestream while sharing his sympathies with former President Joe Biden, who announced his own prostate cancer diagnosis on Sunday, May 18.
“I have the same cancer that Joe Biden has. I also have prostate cancer that has also spread to my bones,” Adams said. “So, my life expectancy is, maybe this summer. I expect to be checking out from this domain sometime this summer.”
Adams went on to share how his cancer diagnosis has impacted his life.
“The disease is already intolerable,” he said. “I can tell you that I don’t have good days. If you’re wondering, ‘Hey Scott, do you have any good days?’ Nope. Every day is a nightmare and evening is even worse.”
“I’m always in pain,” he explained, adding that he uses a walker to move around. “The pain moves around different parts of my body.”
He added, “It’s basically intolerable.”
Adams said the diagnosis is “old news” to him but acknowledged that his fans might be shocked to hear about his cancer for the first time.
“I’ve just sort of processed it,” he said. “It just sort of is what it is. I have to say that everybody has to die, as far as I know. It’s kind of civilized that you know about how long you have, so you can put your affairs together and make sure you’ve said your goodbyes, and done all the things you need to do.”
“If you had to pick a way to die, this one’s really painful — really, really painful — but it’s also kind of good that it gives you enough time while your brain is still working to wrap things up,” he continued.
Adams’ popular Dilbert comic strip, first published in 1989, was syndicated in hundreds of newspapers, including The Washington Post. It was dropped in April 2023 following the illustrator’s controversial opinions about race on his YouTube channel.
On Sunday, Biden’s office said the former president had been diagnosed with an “aggressive” form of prostate cancer.
“Last week, President Joe Biden was seen for a new finding of a prostate nodule after experiencing increasing urinary symptoms,” a statement read. “On Friday, he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, characterized by a Gleason score of 9 (Grade Group 5) with metastasis to the bone.”
“While this represents a more aggressive form of the disease, the cancer appears to be hormone-sensitive, which allows for effective management,” the statement continued.
Biden and his family, including wife Dr. Jill Biden, are currently “reviewing treatment options with his physicians.”
