“Grey’s Anatomy” star James Pickens Jr. revealed he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.
Following the Thursday, Nov. 13 episode of the long-running medical drama, ABC aired a public service announcement in which the 71-year-old actor urged men to get screened regularly.
“Today, I’m living proof that early detection works. If you’re Black, or if prostate cancer runs in your family. Talk to your doctor about getting screened, starting at age 40,” Pickens Jr. said.
The actor, known for playing general surgeon Dr. Richard Webber on “Grey’s Anatomy,” revealed that a blood test with elevated numbers prompted him to see a urologist last year. A biopsy later confirmed he had a tumor, and he underwent a robotic procedure to have part of his prostate removed.
After playing a doctor on TV for over two decades, Pickens Jr. has partnered with Black Health Matters to bring awareness to the prevention of the disease.
“We caught it really early, and so they thought that 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,” Pickens Jr. told Black Health Matters. “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.”
The actor’s diagnosis mirrored his character in the midseason finale episode when Dr. Webber discloses a cancer diagnosis.
Black men are more likely to develop prostate cancer
The Prostate Cancer Foundation states that 1 in 6 Black men develops prostate cancer and are more than twice as likely to die from it.
Prostate cancer is disproportionally more likely to present sooner, be more aggressive and lead to mortality in Black men compared to white men, a 2022 literature review said, emphasizing multifaceted disparities evolving from institutional racism. Disparities can stem from cultural factors like mistrust of the health care system and poor physician‐patient communication, to economic factors like recovery time and cancer debt.
One in eight men in the United States develops prostate cancer, according to the American Cancer Society. The organization said 1 in 44 men will die from the illness, adding that most men diagnosed with the disease do not die from it.
