{"id":2158710,"date":"2025-11-15T15:01:10","date_gmt":"2025-11-15T15:01:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/?p=2158710"},"modified":"2025-11-15T15:01:10","modified_gmt":"2025-11-15T15:01:10","slug":"greys-anatomy-star-james-pickens-jr-diagnosed-with-prostate-cancer","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/celebrity.land\/en\/greys-anatomy-star-james-pickens-jr-diagnosed-with-prostate-cancer\/","title":{"rendered":"Grey’s Anatomy Star James Pickens Jr. Diagnosed With Prostate Cancer"},"content":{"rendered":"

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James Pickens Jr.<\/strong><\/a> has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, just as his Grey\u2019s Anatomy <\/i><\/a>character is dealing with a similar health scare on the show.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s not the kind of news anyone wants to hear, but to be honest, prostate cancer has run through my family,\u201d Pickens, 73, recently told Black Health Matters<\/a>. \u201cMy father had it. He had a lot of brothers; several of them had it. I would have been surprised if I hadn\u2019t gotten it.\u201d<\/p>\n

He added, \u201cI\u2019ve got a 90-year-old first cousin, who\u2019s 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<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n

Pickens has starred as Dr. Richard Webber on all 22 seasons of Grey\u2019s Anatomy. <\/i>Richard, who recently returned to his role as chief of surgery, announced at the end of the Thursday, November 13, episode<\/a> that he was diagnosed with an undisclosed type of cancer. (Richard\u2019s wife Catherine Fox, played by Debbie Allen<\/strong>, is also living with cancer.)<\/p>\n

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\n Related: <\/span>Debbie Allen Says ‘Grey’s’ Character Catherine Will ‘Never’ Let Richard Go<\/span><\/a>
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\n\t\t\tABC\/Raymond Liu Nothing can break up Grey\u2019s Anatomy power couple Catherine Fox and Richard Webber, at least according to Debbie Allen. \u201cHe\u2019s my husband and I\u2019m not letting him go anywhere. That\u2019s the truth,\u201d Allen, 74, told Us Weekly exclusively while promoting her Gr8 Eye Movement campaign in partnership with Prevent Blindness and Regeneron. \u201cHe [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

As for Pickens, he was diagnosed earlier this year.<\/p>\n

\u201cI started getting my annual physical 34 years ago, and I started my PSA testing when I was 41. I\u2019m 73 now,\u201d he recalled to the outlet. \u201cMy urologist said, \u2018Because 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.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Pickens found out in January that there was a tumor located on his prostate<\/a>, but it hadn\u2019t spread further. He subsequently opted to undergo a prostatectomy, where a man\u2019s prostate gland is surgically removed.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe caught it really early, and so they thought that would be the best route to take,\u201d Pickens explained. \u201cI do have a rare variant that you don\u2019t 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\u2019s and dotting all their I\u2019s, but they hadn\u2019t seen one that was detected as early as mine.\u201d<\/p>\n

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\n Related: <\/span>Ask Us: What Do Medical Dramas Use for Organs in Surgery Scenes?\u00a0<\/span><\/a>
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\n\t\t\tWhen watching characters perform surgery on your favorite TV medical dramas, you might wonder what shows use to create fake organs \u2014 and the answer is as gross as you feared it would be. \u201cIt\u2019s usually something synthetic that the art department fabricated. Early on, we used parts from maybe a pig of chicken to [\u2026]\t\t<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Even before his diagnosis, Pickens was diligent about screening for any sign of cancer.<\/p>\n

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