Radio Host Rush Limbaugh, 69, Offers Emotional Update About Advanced Lung Cancer Battle: ‘It Can Feel Like a Roller Coaster You Can't Get Off Of’

Limbaugh, 69, shared the update while hosting his program “The Rush Limbaugh Show.” Besides announcing he had been hospitalized in September for an infection, he’s been keeping his health relatively quiet from fans. Now, he’s opening up and sharing personal details about how his mental health has taken a hit recently. “I know you're concerned,” Limbaugh says. “So, it is time. I do want to provide you with a brief and honest update. In a nutshell, there are lots of ups and downs in this particular illness. And it can feel like a roller coaster at times that you can't get off of.”

Latest Test Results

Limbaugh also announced that after going through a routine scan, doctors informed him that the cancer is still progressing. This understandably came as shocking news since Limbaugh says that prior scans showed the cancer had regressed and was being maintained. Since the disease has progressed, he will need to tweak his treatment plan yet again in order to make sure the cancer doesn’t progress any more. Limbaugh was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer in February, and has gone through three separate waves of treatment after he wasn’t responding to prior therapies.

Related: Rush Limbaugh's 'Cancer Conundrum': He'd Rather Not Talk too Much About His Lung Cancer, but 'Alex Trebek Is Inspiring a Lot of People'

“You know, all in all, I feel very blessed to be here speaking with you today,” Limbaugh says. “Some days are harder than others. I do get fatigued now. I do get very, very tired now. I'm not gonna mislead you about that. But I am extremely grateful to be able to come here to the studio and to maintain as much normalcy as possible and it's still true.”

What is Stage 4 Lung Cancer?

Stage 4 lung cancer, also referred to advanced lung cancer, means the cancer has spread to other parts of the body. The goal of treatment is to eliminate any remnant of cancer in the body, and chemotherapy has long been the standard for advanced lung cancer patients. However, seeing as chemotherapy quickly targets and kills cells, including healthy cells, researchers have been discovering treatment options which will leave healthy cells in tact.

Dr. Geoffrey Oxnard breaks down an overview of stage 4 lung cancer

Treatment Options for Advanced Lung Cancer

While going through targeted therapies for his lung cancer, Limbaugh said the treatment process “nearly killed him.” However, for other patients they’ve shown to be very beneficial. Certain lung cancer patients who hold the epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) â  which, when overreactive, makes cancer cells grow and divide  targeted therapies slow cancer cells from dividing.

Related: What Late Stage Lung Cancer Patients Should Know About Immunotherapy During Coronavirus

Immunotherapy is also another option for lung cancer patients. Immunotherapy harnesses the power of your immune system to fight the cancer, but it all depends on the characteristics of a patient’s tumor and how it interacts with one’s immune system.

"We do know within several months of treatment whether [immunotherapy] going to work or not," Dr. Ken Miller,  Director of Outpatient Oncology at the University of Maryland, Greenebaum Cancer Center, tells SurvivorNet. "When it does work, it may work really, really well. We see the white blood cells essentially going to the sites of tumor and killing cancer cells. So immunotherapy certainly has a role if we find that you have advanced lung cancer, definitely is having a growing role if we find you have stage 3 lung cancer."

Dr. Ken Miller explains how immunotherapy works in advanced lung cancer

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