Rush Limbaugh says his lung cancer is terminal

© Drew Angerer/Getty Images WASHINGTON, DC – FEBRUARY 04: Radio personality Rush Limbaugh sits in the First Lady’s box ahead of the State of the Union address in the chamber of the U.S. House of Representatives on February 04, 2020 in Washington, DC. President Trump delivers his third State of the Union to the nation the night before the U.S. Senate is set to vote in his impeachment trial. (Photo by Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

Rush Limbaugh, the conservative talk show radio host, is battling stage 4 lung cancer and said Monday he’s had a setback in his prognosis.

“The scans did show some progression of cancer,” he told listeners of his radio show. He later added: “It’s not dramatic, but it is the wrong direction.”

The 69-year-old was diagnosed with lung cancer in February.

Limbaugh said his doctors changed his medications in “hopes of keeping additional progression at bay for as long as possible.” Prior to this week’s update, he said that cancer “had been reduced, and it had become manageable.”

“It’s tough to realize that the days where I do not think I’m under a death sentence are over,” Limbaugh said. “Now, we all are, is the point. 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.”

Limbaugh has been hosting “The Rush Limbaugh Show” in national syndication for more than 30 years. He is a Republican party icon and a close ally of President Trump’s. Trump appeared on his show two weeks ago in lieu of the canceled second presidential debate.

He renewed his contact with the syndication company Premiere Radio Networks in early January. Specific terms weren’t released.