Cowboys Owner Jerry Jones Has Survived His Cancer Diagnosis for Years Thanks to Treatment

Longtime Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones revealed to The Dallas Morning News that he was diagnosed with melanoma in 2010. However, thanks to a trial cancer treatment, he was able to battle his diagnosis for years and continue to work on his health without having to step down from his roles with the Cowboys.

Although not many knew about Jerry's cancer diagnosis or treatment before he shared the news publicly, he has now come out to share more details. This includes the multiple surgeries he has had on his lymph nodes and lungs to fight his diagnosis and the experimental cancer treatment that Jerry said helped him in a major way.

Jerry explained to The Dallas Morning News that he underwent multiple surgeries when his cancer had spread. However, he also took part in what he called an experimental treatment known as PD-1 therapy. According to the American Cancer Society, PD-1 therapy is used to help the immune system.

PD-1 is a protein that can attack cells. The therapy blocks the protein to help the body recognize cancer cells and attack them. Treatment like this can actually, in some cases, shrink tumors in the body that cannot be removed surgically. There are two official PD-1 drugs on the market for treating patients with melanoma. While it's unclear which one Jerry has used, he said he has lived with his cancer diagnosis for more than 10 years.

"Well, you don't like to think about your mortality, but I was so fortunate to have some great people that sent me in the right direction," Jerry told The Dallas Morning News. "I got to be part of a trial that was propitious. It really worked. It's called PD-1, and it really, really, really worked."

Not all sports team owners are also the general managers. But Jerry is, and apparently, he prefers to keep it that way. He explains why in the Netflix documentary America's Team: The Gambler and His Cowboys, per a clip that was shared on X (formerly Twitter). In the clip, Jerry says he "likes the pain." According to CBS Sports, however, Jerry has drawn criticism as the general manager long before fans learned of his cancer diagnosis and wondered if it meant he would be stepping down.

Despite a 2024 season that resulted in more losses than wins, he said that he intends to stay on as the general manager.

"I bought the team, I think the first thing to come out of my mouth. … Somebody asked, 'Did you buy this for your kids?' I said, 'Hell no. I bought it for me,'" he said, per CBS Sports. "And I didn't buy an investment. I bought an occupation, and I bought something I was going to do."

Jerry was 46 when he bought the team, and he did increase its overall monetary value. He appears to be with it for the long haul, despite both his health and any naysayers who want to know when he will ever retire.