Rush Misses Taping Amid Cancer Battle
- Rush Limbaugh, 70, missed a taping of his radio show this week as he battles late-stage lung cancer.
- Limbaugh was diagnosed with stage four lung cancer in 2020, and has been treated the disease with chemotherapy.
- For current and former smokers, getting a lung cancer screening test could be life-saving.
Our prayers are with Rush as he continues to fight the illness he as been afflicted with. We are still praying for a remission. Today @KenMatthews will fill in for Rush. Thanks for all of your prayers, kind words and wishes for our Rush. God Bless you.
— Bo Snerdley (@BoSnerdley) February 10, 2021
The producer also included thanks for fans of Limbaugh, writing: “Thanks for all of your prayers, kind words and wishes for our Rush. God Bless you.”
Rush’s Lung Cancer Battle
Limbaugh shared his lung cancer diagnosis in early 2020, and in October last year, he told listeners that, “Stage 4 is, as they say, terminal…it’s tough to realize that the days where I do not think I’m under a death sentence are over. We all know that we’re going to die at some point. But when you have a terminal disease diagnosis that has a time frame to it, then that puts a different psychological and even physical awareness to it.”
Related: Rush Limbaugh Still Hosting Show, One Year After Stage 4 Lung Cancer Diagnosis
When he was diagnosed in February 2020, the lung cancer had already spread to other parts of his body. Stage four cancer, which Limbaugh has, is typically treated with chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted drug therapy, and immunotherapy. Despite the pandemic, Limbaugh was able to travel to receive treatment for his disease, due to his media status. While traveling for treatment, it's important to practice caution in order to protect yourself during this pandemic time. Some cancer treatments, like chemotherapy, can weaken the body’s immune system, making a person more susceptible to COVID-19.
What Late Stage Lung Cancer Patients Should Know About Immunotherapy During Coronavirus
Radiation for Advanced Lung Cancer
Radiation is one treatment option for stage four lung cancer, the kind Limbaugh is battling. Dr. Billy Loo from Stanford Medicine said in a previous interview that radiation “has been used as part of palliative treatment to shrink tumors, which ideally will help alleviate some of the cancer symptoms such as trouble swallowing, coughing and pain.”
Related: Radiation BoomThe Increasingly Popular Choice For Later Stage Cancer
“Radiation can also can be used in "special cases where the spread…to other parts of the body may be very limited,” said Dr. Loo. He said that in cases of metastatic lung cancer, intense radiation can be used in an attempt to mitigate the cancer’s effects.
Radiation May Help In Certain Cases of Stage Four Lung Cancer
Managing Later Stage Lung Cancer
Late-stage lung cancer, also called stage four or metastatic cancer, has spread to other parts of the body, beyond the lungs. “The goal of therapy,” said Dr. Geoffrey Oxnard of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute in a previous interview, “is to treat the entire body in order to destroy every last remnant of the cancer. In the past, chemotherapywhich kills all fast-growing cells in the bodywas considered the treatment standard for stage four lung cancer, but times have changed.”
Related: Rules For Living With Cancer
“Precision medicine or matching the treatment to your tumor's individual biology and characteristics is the way forward,” explained Dr. Oxnard. “For example, if your cancer is over-expressing epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR)a protein that makes cells grow and dividedrugs blocking EGFR may be used. Targeted therapy seeks out very specific cancer cells and leaves the healthy cells alone. Chemotherapy tends to cause a lot of collateral damage because it kills all fast-growing cellsboth healthy and cancerous.”
Overview of Stage Four Lung Cancer
Screening for Lung Cancer
For people who smoke, or used to smoke, you may want to consider getting a lung cancer screening test. Dr. Patrick Forde of Johns Hopkins said in a previous interview, “In about 70 to 80% of patients who are diagnosed with lung cancer, unfortunately, the cancer has spread outside of the lung and is not suitable for surgery.”
"I think it behooves us all to try and increase the uptake of CT screening in particular, given that it's been shown to reduce lung cancer mortality," Dr. Forde said. “If you are a longtime smoker between the ages of 55 and 80, ask your primary care doctor if you qualify for low-dose CT screening, and how to get this test.
Former & Current Heavy Smokers Should Get Lung Cancer Screenings Using CT Scan, Says Leading Expert
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