Rush Limbaugh announces advanced lung cancer diagnosis

(AFP/Getty)

Conservative talk radio host Rush Limbaugh has announced his diagnosis of "advanced lung cancer" during an episode of his show.

The radio host and political commentator told his audience that he would not be able to do his show on some days while he receives treatment for the diagnosis.

It remains unclear what form of lung cancer he may have, or the prognosis.

Limbaugh, 69, has been a prominent and powerful supporter of Donald Trump, even after expressing some uneasiness with the president in the past.

He has run his radio programme, The Rush Limbaugh Show, for over three decades, after it first premiered in 1988.

During that time, the show rose to become the highest-rated talk radio show in the United States, and a potent tool for mobilising conservative public sentiment.

“I can’t help but feel that I’m letting everybody down with this, but the upshot is that I have been diagnosed with advanced lung cancer,” Limbaugh said on his show.

He continued: "I wish I didn’t have to tell you this, and I thought about not telling anybody,” he said. “I thought about trying to do this without anybody knowing, because I don’t like making things about me, but there are going to be days that I’m not going to be able to be here."

Limbaugh said that, at this moment, he is experiencing no symptoms.