November 15, 2025
The longtime actor says he’s “dwelling proof” that screening saves lives — particularly for Black males dealing with larger danger.
“Gray’s Anatomy” veteran James Pickens Jr. is understood to thousands and thousands as Dr. Richard Webber — a personality who spends his days saving lives. Now, the 73-year-old actor is sharing how early testing helped save his personal
Pickens appeared in an Instagram video on Nov. 14, telling viewers he’s “dwelling proof” that early detection for prostate most cancers “works.” His message accompanied a candid dialog with Black Well being Issues, throughout which he defined why he has at all times taken annual checkups critically.
“It’s not the form of information anybody needs to listen to,” he mentioned, reflecting on his prognosis to Black Well being Issues. However given his household historical past, he added he “would have been stunned if I hadn’t gotten it.” Prostate most cancers has touched a number of generations of his relations — together with his father, uncles, a 90-year-old cousin, and that cousin’s son. Remarkably, he mentioned, “Nobody, so far as I do know, has succumbed to it.”
Due to that historical past, Pickens started PSA testing sooner than most. In 2024, a kind of routine checks raised concern. His main care physician referred him to a urologist, and a subsequent biopsy revealed a tumor. Thankfully, a PET scan confirmed the most cancers had not unfold. Pickens underwent a robotic process to take away a part of his prostate.
Docs instructed him the most cancers was discovered unusually early. “It was uncommon sufficient that they wished to be sure that they had been crossing all of the T’s and dotting all their I’s,” he mentioned. “However they hadn’t seen one which was detected as early as mine.”
In an sudden twist, Pickens’ prognosis paralleled a storyline on “Gray’s Anatomy.” The present’s midseason finale — which aired Nov. 13 — revealed that his character, Webber, had additionally been identified with most cancers. Viewers will be taught extra when the collection returns in January.
Pickens hopes that by talking publicly, he may help break down long-standing fears that many males — particularly Black males — have about medical testing.
“The place we’re and the way we view the medical group, particularly as African American males,” he mentioned, issues deeply. “We all know the historical past of that…our trepidation about being examined, and getting one thing so simple as a bodily.”
In keeping with the American Most cancers Society, prostate most cancers impacts 1 in 8 males. That quantity climbs considerably for Black males, who face a 1-in-6 danger and are greater than twice as more likely to die from the illness. The Nationwide Most cancers Institute notes that prostate most cancers is very hereditary, with inherited elements accounting for as much as 60% of instances.
Pickens’ message stays easy and pressing: early detection saves lives.
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