Cowboys owner Jerry Jones revealed that he fought stage 4 melanoma for a decade, the Dallas Morning News reported.
Jones was contacted by the newspaper following a comment he made during the Netflix documentary, “America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys.”
In the documentary, Jones referenced undergoing cancer treatments “about a dozen years ago,” per the Dallas Morning News.
Jones said he underwent treatment at the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston in 2010.
Jones, now 82, said he had four surgeries over the ensuing decade ― two involving his lungs, two involving his lymph nodes. He credits the experimental trial drug PD-1 (Programmed Cell Death Protein 1) for saving his life.
“I was saved by a fabulous treatment and great doctors and a real miracle (drug) called PD-1 (therapy),” Jones said. “I went into trials for that PD-1 and it has been one of the great medicines. I have no tumors.”
Stage 4 melanoma means “cancer has spread beyond the skin to other organs, such as the lungs or liver,” per the Mayo Clinic.
According to the Dallas Morning News, the drug helps the immune system “fight cancer cells by blocking PD-1, thus enabling T cells to better recognize and destroy cancer cells.”
