James Pickens Jr. has been diagnosed with prostate cancer.

The longtime “Grey’s Anatomy” star made the reveal, just as his onscreen 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,” the 73-year-old actor 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 continued, “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. No one, as far as I know, has succumbed to it.”

Pickens has starred as Dr. Richard Webber in all 22 seasons of the ABC series. At the end of Thursday’s fall finale episod

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