James Pickens Jr. has been diagnosed with prostate cancer, just as his Grey's Anatomy character is dealing with a similar health scare on the show. "It's not the kind of news anyone wants to hear, but to be honest, prostate cancer has run through my family," Pickens, 73, recently 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." He added, "I've got a 90-year-old first cousin, who's still alive, actually, [and] he had it. His son has it, a couple of his brothers had it.