Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones revealed that he has faced stage 4 melanoma and that an experimental drug in a clinical trial saved his life.
In the fifth episode of the Netflix documentary “America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys”, which will premiere next week, Jones, 82, spoke about the cancer treatments he underwent at MD Anderson in Houston. However, he did not provide specific details about the treatment or its purpose.
Jones shared that he was diagnosed in June 2010 and began treatment shortly after. In the following decade, he underwent two lung surgeries and two lymph node surgeries. Stage 4 melanoma indicates that the skin cancer has spread to other areas of the body. According to information, PD-1 (programmed cell death-1) therapy helps the immune system recognize and attack cancer cells.I was saved by a fabulous treatment, great doctors, and a miracle drug called PD-1 therapy.
Jerry Jones
The treatment affected his hips, which required replacements of both, but he feels proud to move forward. A stage 4 melanoma diagnosis used to be almost always fatal, and treatment focused on slowing the disease, controlling symptoms, and possibly extending survival. However, recent medical advances, including immunotherapies and targeted checkpoint inhibitors, have provided hope of controlling the disease for years. Advanced cases may have a five-year survival rate of approximately 50%, with some even longer and others with no signs of cancer after treatment. MD Anderson is world-renowned for cancer treatment and clinical trials. Cowboys coach Brian Schottenheimer also revealed his battle with thyroid cancer at age 28 while coaching the Chargers. His diagnosis came during the 2002 training camp and, within 72 hours, he underwent surgery at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, to remove his thyroid and 17 lymph nodes.You don’t like to think about your mortality, but I was fortunate enough to have great people guide me in the right direction. I was able to participate in a trial that was propitious. It really worked. It’s called PD-1 and it really, really, really worked.
Jerry Jones
The PD-1 therapy came to light after Jones was instructed to meditate and write down the names of 10 people who “made his blood boil” and wish them well. Jones first wrote the name of his former head coach, Jimmy Johnson. The Netflix series documents Jones’ purchase of the Cowboys, the firing of Tom Landry, the hiring of Johnson, and the rise of the Cowboys in the 1990s, intertwining Jones’ life story.I’m glad Jerry shared it because I think it gives people hope. It gives them the strength to say, ‘OK, you can beat this. You can do it.’ And when you have that kind of diagnosis, to have that hope and that ability to think, ‘I can fight this and maybe I can get lucky,’ that’s great.
Brian Schottenheimer
