Dallas Cowboys’ proprietor Jerry Jones shared in an interview that he faced stage 4 melanoma and that an experimental medication played a crucial role in saving his life.
In the fifth episode of the Netflix series “America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys,” which will air next week, the 82-year-old Jones recounted his experiences with cancer treatment at MD Anderson located in Houston. Nevertheless, he chose not to disclose specifics regarding the treatment or its purpose.
“I owe my survival to an incredible treatment, exceptional doctors, and an actual miracle drug named PD-1 therapy,” Jones mentioned to The Dallas Morning News on Tuesday. “I participated in clinical trials for that PD-1, and it has proven to be one of the most remarkable medicines. Currently, I have no tumors.”
The article reported that Jones received his diagnosis in June 2010 and commenced treatment shortly after. He expressed that throughout the next decade, he underwent two lung operations and two surgeries on lymph nodes. Stage 4 melanoma indicates that the skin cancer had spread to different areas of the body.
As stated by the American Cancer Society, PD-1 therapy, or Programmed Cell Death Protein 1, aids “the immune system in identifying and combating cancer cells.”
The treatment became significant after Jones was advised that meditation would be beneficial and to create a list of ten individuals who irked him, followed by wishing them well. Notably, he recorded the name of his former head coach, Jimmy Johnson, at the top of his list.
When he visited the doctor shortly after being prompted, he was asked how meditation was aiding him, to which he replied with a slight grin, “I can’t get past that first person … “
The Netflix documentary illustrates Jones’ acquisition of the Cowboys, the dismissal of Tom Landry, the hiring of Johnson, as well as the resurgence of the Cowboys in the 1990s, combining it with elements of Jones’ personal narrative.
