Rush Limbaugh says lung cancer has shown progression 'in the wrong direction'

Conservative talk radio show host Rush Limbaugh says he's had a setback in his fight against advanced lung cancer.

Limbaugh, 69, said recent scans show "some progression of cancer." It's "not dramatic, but it is the wrong direction," he told listeners Monday, according to a transcript posted on his website.

The host said Monday that he has been diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer.

On Feb. 3, he first disclosed that he was sick. The following day, President Donald Trump awarded Limbaugh the Presidential Medal of Freedom, the nation's highest civilian honor, during the State of the Union address.

Limbaugh said that he had been reluctant to speak too much about his illness on-air, in part because "I'm not the only one that’s going through hardships, challenging times."

"I want to stress here that I know countless numbers of you are experiencing the same thing. If it isn't lung cancer, it’s some kind of cancer. If it isn't you, it’s somebody really close to you. If it isn't an illness, it's something," he said Monday.

Limbaugh said that prior to the recent scans that showed some progression, "the scans had shown that we had rendered the cancer dormant."

"So we have to tweak the treatment plan, which we did, and the chemotherapy drugs in hopes of keeping additional progression at bay for as long as possible," Limbaugh said. "The idea now is to keep it where it is or maybe have it reduce again. We’ve shown that that is possible."

This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com.