Grey's Anatomy actor James Pickens Jr has revealed he has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, a disease he said has long affected the men in his family.
Prostate cancer, a growth of cells in the prostate gland, is among the most common cancers in men, though most patients are cured, according to the Mayo Clinic.
Pickens, 71, said the diagnosis did not come as a shock. His father, James Pickens Sr, and several other relatives have had the disease, though none “has succumbed to it”.
"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," Pickens told Black Health Matters in an interview.
He said the pattern extends to extended family as well. "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. We caught it really early, and so they thought that would be the best route to take," he added.
Pickens has played Dr Richard Webber on Grey’s Anatomy, now in its 22nd season, since the show’s debut. His credits also include The Conners, Roseanne and The X-Files.