Grey’s Anatomy Star Discusses Cancer After Season 22 Reveal

November 15, 2025

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Grey’s Anatomy star, James Pickens Jr., is spreading awareness about the importance of early cancer screenings following a shocking reveal about his character, Dr. Richard Webber. He also discussed his real-life diagnosis.

In Grey’s Anatomy’s season 22 midseason finale, Webber, who had been a part of the show throughout its entire run, had cancer. Pickens shared with Black Health Matters that he was diagnosed with prostate cancer. He recalled how he felt when he first heard the news and how many of his relatives also suffered from the disease. “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.“

The actor also stated that his relatives who have prostate cancer were all still alive. He said that to the best of his knowledge, no one in his family has passed away from it yet. “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,” he explained.

Pickens shared that because it ran in his family, he got tested regularly. The actor, who is 71 years old now, had been getting annual physicals every year for 34 years and PSA (prostate-specific antigen) testing for 30 years. He said that in January, his doctor flagged his elevated PSA levels and sent him to a urologist, where an MRI detected something concerning. He found out he had a tumor after a biopsy was done.

Pickens said that, since he caught it early, the tumor had not spread yet. “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. 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.” He then decided to get the tumor removed.

He filmed a video with Black Health Matters that was posted to their Instagram page, where the actor stressed the importance of early detection. Pickens said in the video that the risk of prostate cancer is higher in Black men. He added that since it’s treatable if caught during the early stages, getting screened regularly is crucial.

Today, I am living proof that early detection works. If you’re Black, or prostate cancer runs in your family, talk to your doctor about getting screened starting at age 40. To learn more, go to blackhealthmatters.com.

Grey’s Anatomy season 22 will return on January 6, 2025.