‘Grey’s Anatomy’ Star James Pickens Jr. Reveals Prostate Cancer Diagnosis: ‘Not the Kind of News Anyone Wants to Hear’

Longtime “Grey’s Anatomy” star James Pickens Jr. says he’s been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

“It’s not the kind of news anyone wants to hear, but to be honest, prostate cancer has run through my family,” Pickens said in an interview with Black Health Matters. “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.”

Luckily, Pickens has never known anyone who died from the disease.

“I’ve got a 90-year-old first cousin, who’s still alive, actually; he had it,” he explained. “His son has it. A couple of his brothers had it. No one, as far as I know, has succumbed to it.”

Pickens has starred as Dr. Richard Webber across all 22 seasons of “Grey’s Anatomy.” His other TV credits include “The Conners,” “Roseanne” and “The X-Files.”

After getting a routine PSA test (prostate-specific antigen), Pickens’ doctor sent him to get an MRI, which revealed “something suspicious.” A biopsy was then conducted, which revealed the tumor. It had not spread and was promptly removed.

“We caught it really early, and so they thought that would be the best route to take,” Pickens said. “I do have a rare variant that you don’t see very often. They wanted to err on the side of caution and keep an eye on it. It was rare enough that they wanted to make sure that they were crossing all the T’s and dotting all their I’s. But they hadn’t seen one that was detected as early as mine.”