Rush's "Essential" Status
- Radio personality Rush Limbaugh, 69, is fighting advanced lung cancer, and says he was able to travel for treatment during the pandemic due to his being an “influential member of the media.”
- Limbaugh was diagnosed with lung cancer in February 2020, and it has spread to other parts of his body.
- For those fighting lung cancer during the COVID-19 pandemic, it’s especially important to exercise safety precautions, like wearing a mask and washing your hands.
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Limbaugh didn't share any further details about his cancer treatment, or provide details about what type of treatment he is receiving.
Limbaugh’s Cancer Battle
Limbaugh was diagnosed with cancer in February 2020. This diesease is often treated with chemotherapy, radiation therapy, targeted drug therapy, and immunotherapy. Throughout his battle, Limbaugh has been open with listeners and fans about his diagnosis and expressed gratitude for their support throughout his career. Limbaugh also got the flu, while battling his lung cancer. Many people fighting cancer are in an immunocompromised state, due to their cancer treatments, so catching the flu can be more dangerous for them.
Related: Rush Limbaugh, Just Diagnosed with Advanced Lung Cancer, Now Has the Flu
This year, approximately 228,820 people will be diagnosed with lung cancer in the U.S., according to the American Cancer Society (ACS). Lung cancer has a slightly higher incidence in men, with 116,300 men being diagnosed this year and 112,520 women. Like all people battling lung cancer this year, Limbaugh is fighting his amidst the backdrop of a global pandemic.
For him and for others, safety should be a priority. In an earlier interview with SurvivorNet, Dr. Karen Reckamp, Director of the Division of Medical Oncology at Cedars-Sinai, said “At this time, for patients with lung cancer or any type of cancer, still, the best thing we can do is to keep to ourselves and keep to the small groups of people that we are living with, to frequently wash our hands, clean off surfaces in the home, and minimize the amount of time that you are out of the home and interacting. For patients who are on treatment, it becomes necessary sometimes to come into a health care setting.”
What Do People With Lung Cancer Need to Know About COVID-19?
Lung Cancer & COVID-19
As the COVID-19 pandemic presses on, all of us need to do our part to try to keep those around us safe and healthy. Dr. Brendon Stiles, a Thoracic Surgeon at Weill Cornell Medicine and NewYork-Presbyterian, told SurvivorNet in a previous interview that people with advanced lung cancer during the pandemic who are receiving immunotherapy treatment may be predisposed to a virus infection. So, it’s extra-important to make safety a top priority.
Related: It's Important To Continue Cancer Screenings Through COVID-19
“Almost all stage four patients now who don’t have targeted mutations or rearrangements are on a path where they’re going to see immunotherapy during their treatment course,” Dr. Stiles told us. “And we really don’t know what the interaction of that is going to be with the virus. I think you could probably argue both ways that it may completely throw your immune system out of whack and predispose you to infection. Maybe because you’re getting an immune stimulus, you’re going to be able to fight off viruses better. I think we’re going to need a lot more data to really understand that better.”
What Late Stage Lung Cancer Patients Should Know About Immunotherapy During Coronavirus
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