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James Pickens Jr., who played Dr. Richard Webber on “Grey’s Anatomy” for all 22 seasons, announced that he has prostate cancer.
“It’s not the kind of news anyone wants to hear, but to be honest, prostate cancer has affected my family,” he recently told Black Health Matters. “My father had it. He had a lot of brothers; several of them had it. I would have been surprised if he hadn’t contracted it.”
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Pickens said he has been monitored periodically for prostate-specific antigen levels since he was 40 years old.
“My urologist said, ‘Because you were so diligent about that aspect of your health, it was an advantage for you. We were able to catch it so early because they were testing you,'” he told the publication.
Pickens was diagnosed in 2024 and said he opted to have his entire prostate removed because his doctors “wanted to err on the side of caution.”
On the show, Pickens’ character also revealed that he had cancer in the season 22 midseason finale, People noted.
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“I have a 90-year-old first cousin, who is actually still alive; I had him,” Pickens said. “His son has it. A couple of his brothers had it. No one, as far as I know, has succumbed to it.”