‘Grey’s Anatomy’s James Pickens Jr. Reveals Prostate Cancer Diagnosis

In an unfortunate case of life imitating art following his Grey’s Anatomy character’s diagnosis, James Pickens Jr. has revealed his recent struggle with prostate cancer.

The actor declared that he’s “living proof that early detection works” as he teamed up with Black Health Matters (BHM) to urge men to get screened regularly once they turn 40, especially if they are Black are have a family history of prostate cancer.

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

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

After his doctor referred him to a urologist last year, Pickens Jr. successfully treated his cancer, opting for a robotic radical prostatectomy as opposed to radiation.

“We caught it really early, and so they thought that would be the best route to take,” he explained. “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,” said Pickens Jr.

The Grey’s Anatomy star’s real-life diagnosis comes after his character Dr. Richard Webber revealed he has cancer in the final moments of this week’s Season 22 midseason finale.