Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones revealed he suffered from stage 4 melanoma for over a decade but survived, according to the Dallas Morning News.
Jones said his life was saved by an experimental drug treatment called PD-1 therapy, which, according to the American Cancer Society, keeps T cells from attacking normal cells.
“PD-1 is a checkpoint protein on immune cells called T cells. It acts as a ‘off switch’ to helps keep the T cells from attacking normal cells. PD-1 does this by attaching to PD-L1, a protein found on some normal and cancer cells. When PD-1 binds to PD-L1, it tells the T cell not to attack. Some cancer cells have large amounts of PD-L1, which helps them avoid being attacked by the immune system.”
Jones received treatment from the MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston after being diagnosed in 2010 and went through four surgeries over the next decade, two on his lungs and two on his lymph nodes.
Jones said he is now tumor-free.
After news of his cancer fight was revealed, Jones offered more details to the media Wednesday afternoon from training camp in Oxnard, California.
“You don’t like to think about your mortality,” he said. “I was so fortunate to have some great people that sent me in the right direction. I got to be a part of a trial that was propitious. It really worked. It’s called PD-1. It really, really, really worked.
“It ate my hips up. I had to have both hips replaced, because it was tough on your bones. But other than that, I’m so proud to be sitting here with you guys and getting to be here doing what we do. But it was in the back of your mind.”
Jones has been conducting interviews ahead of the release of the documentary “America’s Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys,” which debuts Tuesday on Netflix.
Staff writer Nick Harris contributed to this story from Oxnard.