James Pickens Jr. has played Dr. Richard Webber for 22 seasons on the Shondaland hit Grey’s Anatomy. He can easily converse in medical terminology and counsel someone with a life-threatening diagnosis. But what happens when the TV doctor becomes the patient? Pickens found out when he heard, “You have prostate cancer.”
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This News Didn’t Come Out of Left Field
“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,” said the 73-year-old actor.
“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.”
The Statistics
According to the Prostate Cancer Foundation, 1 in 6 Black men still develop prostate cancer and are more than twice as likely to die from the disease. The National Cancer Institute says that prostate cancer is highly heritable. Inherited factors cause up to 60% of prostate cancer risk. “Risk factors for prostate cancer include age, a family history of prostate cancer and other cancers, genetics, and ancestry (such as West African ancestry).” You can take a risk quiz here.
Because of His Family History, Pickens Began PSA Testing Early
Pickens’ dedication to his health may have helped catch his prostate cancer early. “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.”
Pickens’ Diagnosis
In 2024, the actor went for his annual physical, which included checking his PSA levels. He was referred to a urologist, who told him his numbers were still in the normal range, but they needed to check again in a year.
“I went back in January, and when my PSA numbers came back, my primary said, ‘Yeah, you know what? It’s ticked up some more. I want to send you back to the urologist.” Pickens said.
“The urologist looked at him and said,” Yeah, there’s something here. Let’s do an MRI,’ which we did, and it revealed, as he called it, something suspicious.”
They scheduled a biopsy, which revealed a tumor. A PET scan showed that the cancer had not spread and was isolated to one quadrant of the prostate.
His Treatment Choice
The Grey’s star had two options: radiation, or he could elect to do a radical prostatectomy. After weighing the options, he chose the latter. His radical prostatectomy was done robotically by two urologists. He stayed a day in the hospital afterward.
“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,” he said.
“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.”
Why He’s Sharing His Story
Pickens wants to remove the stigma that men have in talking about their health, especially prostate cancer. “Where we are and how we view the medical community, especially as African American men,” he points out.
“We know the history of that, and how far that goes back in terms of our trepidation about being tested, and getting something as simple as a physical.”
Years ago, the actor participated in a Black barbershop men’s health summit with Dick Gregory. The group targeted 50 cities to set up screenings at barbershops and offered free haircuts. In the process, they might get their blood pressure checked and brochures on prostate cancer and diabetes. He got the group to add his hometown, Cleveland, to the tour.
“We brought in a wonderful, bright, Black physician out of the DC area and his team. And we identified ten barbershops in the area where I lived. These brothers would come in and get a haircut,” Pickens said. ”
We were able to get a blood pressure test and put something in their hand. And in more than one case, we would run into brothers who had never had a physical.”
It’s Movember, A Time to Talk About Prostate Cancer
If you have ever noticed men growing out their facial hair in November, they are probably doing so in for Movember, in support of men’s health, among the major initiatives is prostate cancer.
“I recall when I was a kid, my dad was one of many brothers. I think he may have had seven, eight brothers. But I know at least four or five were still alive when I was a kid. When one of them would fall ill, my dad would grow a mustache. And he’d grow a beard with it,” Pickens said.
“I remember asking, very clearly, like it was yesterday. I said, ‘Dad, why are you growing your beard like that? He said, I’m growing it for my brother who was sick.’ So there was a cultural piece to it as well.”
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