1 of 5 | Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones said he was diagnosed with cancer in 2010. File Photo by Ian Halperin/UPI | License Photo
Jerry Jones was diagnosed with stage 4 melanoma and underwent four surgeries over more than a decade to beat the cancer, the Dallas Cowboys owner revealed.
Jones made the disclosure during an interview published Wednesday in the Dallas Morning News. The 82-year-old billionaire, who said he was diagnosed in 2010, credited an experimental drug with saving his life. He received treatment at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.
“I was saved by a fabulous treatment and great doctors and a real miracle called PD-1 [therapy],” Jones told the Morning News. “I went into trials for that PD-1 and it has been one of the great medicines. I now have no tumors.”
Stage 4 melanoma means the cancer has already spread to other areas of the body, including the distant lymph nodes, areas of skin or other organs, according to the American Cancer Society.
Alternative treatments are typically tried before chemotherapy. PD-1, or Programmed Cell Death Protein 1, therapy helps the immune system fight cancer cells.
The five-year survival rate for those with a distant spread of melanoma — with the cancer in the lungs, liver, skin or lymph nodes — is 35%, based on data collected by the American Cancer Society for people diagnosed between 2014 and 2020. Jones said he underwent two lung surgeries and two lymph node surgeries.
The longtime Cowboys owner bought the franchise for $140 million in 1989. The Cowboys were listed as the most valuable franchise in the NFL on Wednesday, topping Sportico’s annual rankings with a value of $12.8 billion. Last year, the Cowboys became the first franchise to pass the $10 billion mark.
