James Pickens Jr, the 73-year-old actor best known for his role as Dr. Richard Webber on Grey’s Anatomy, has been diagnosed with a “rare variant” of prostate cancer. The star, who has appeared in all 22 seasons of the hit medical drama, was diagnosed earlier this year and chose to have a prostatectomy, a surgical procedure to remove the prostate gland.
Speaking to Black Health Matters, he said: “I started getting my annual physical 34 years ago, and I started my PSA testing when I was 41. I’m 73 now. 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 added: “We caught it really early, and so they thought [surgery] would be the best route to take. 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.”
James admitted that the diagnosis wasn’t a huge surprise given his family history with the disease.
He explained: “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. I would have been surprised if I hadn’t gotten it.”
“I’ve got a 90 year old first cousin, who’s still alive, actually, [and] 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.
In a recent episode of the medical drama Grey’s Anatomy, Pickens’ character Dr Webber revealed that he had been diagnosed with an undisclosed type of cancer.
