ABC Actor Diagnosed With Prostate Cancer

Just days after his on-screen character was diagnosed with prostate cancer, Grey’s Anatomy star James Pickens Jr. revealed his own prostate cancer diagnosis in a new interview.

Pickens has played Dr. Richard Webber on the long-running ABC medical drama since it debuted in 2005. While speaking with Black Health Matters, the 73-year-old actor said that he recently found out he also has the disease.

“It’s not the kind of news anyone wants to hear, but to be honest, prostate cancer has run through my family,” he said. My father had it. He had a lot of brothers; several of them had it. I would have been surprised if I hadn’t gotten it.”

He shared he had a “90-year-old first cousin” who had prostate cancer, and is “still alive actually,” before noting a couple of his brothers had it and that no one in his family has “succumbed” to it.

Due to his family history, Pickens has gotten regular physicals and special testing for prostate cancer since he was 41 years old. After a recent physical, doctors noticed “something suspicious,” and sent him off for an MRI.

“My urologist said, ‘Because you were so diligent in that piece of your health, it was to your advantage. We were able to catch it so early because you were being tested,’” he said.

The scans revealed that the cancer had not yet spread past the prostate, so Pickens opted to have a radical prostatectomy to remove the growth.

He told the publication that he is sharing his story because he wants to remove the stigma that men experience when talking about their health.

“One in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime,” he says in a video. “For Black men, the risk is even higher. Fortunately, prostate cancer is highly treatable, but early detection is the key, and sometimes there are no noticeable symptoms.”

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