'Grey's Anatomy' veteran James Pickens Jr. diagnosed with prostate cancer

"Grey’s Anatomy" veteran James Pickens Jr. is opening up about his own real-life health diagnosis.

Following the Thursday, Nov. 13 midseason finale episode, ABC aired a public service announcement after the credits in which the actor, who has portrayed general surgeon Dr. Richard Webber on the medical drama for 22 seasons, revealed he was diagnosed with prostate cancer.

In the PSA video, he urged men to get screened for prostate cancer regularly.

"One in eight men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in their lifetime," said Pickens Jr. in the video. "For Black men, the risk is even higher. Fortunately, prostate cancer is highly treatable, but early detection is the key, and sometimes there are no noticeable symptoms."

"Today, I'm living proof that early detection works," he added. "If you're Black, or if prostate cancer runs in your family, talk to your doctor about getting screened, starting at age 40."

In the final scenes of the "Grey's Anatomy" midseason finale, Dr. Webber opens up to Dr. Miranda Bailey (Chandra Wilson) about his health, telling her that he's been diagnosed with cancer.

Now, the actor is going public with his experience living with the disease and has partnered with Black Health Matters to raise awareness about prevention.

James Pickens Jr. says prostate cancer has 'run through my family'

"It's not the kind of news anyone wants to hear, but to be honest, prostate cancer has run through my family," he 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 I hadn’t gotten it."

But Pickens Jr. added that although many family members have had it, "no one, as far as I know, has succumbed to it."

Pickens began his PSA testing when he was 41, which may have helped in the early detection of the disease. The PSA test measures the amount of prostate-specific antigen in one's blood, according to Mayo Clinic.

"PSA is a protein produced by both cancerous and noncancerous tissue in the prostate, a small gland that sits below the bladder in males," per the Mayo Clinic's website.

"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 Jr. said.

How did the 'Grey's Anatomy' star find out he had cancer?

The actor shared that last year, a blood test, or his PSA, came back with elevated numbers. It then prompted him to see a urologist, and a biopsy later confirmed he had a tumor.

Pickens Jr. said he was given two options: radiation or a radical prostatectomy. He underwent a robotic procedure to have part of his prostate removed.

"We caught it really early, and so they thought that would be the best route to take," he told Black Health Matters. "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."

Black men are more likely to develop prostate cancer

Per the Prostate Cancer Foundation, 1 in 6 Black men develops prostate cancer and are more than twice as likely to die from it.

A 2022 literature review states that prostate cancer is disproportionally more likely to present sooner, be more aggressive and lead to mortality in Black men compared to white men − 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.

"Grey's Anatomy" goes on hiatus after Thursday, Nov. 13, and will return on Jan. 8, 2026, with new episodes dropping weekly.