Rush Limbaugh dies following lung cancer complications: What to know about the disease

Talk radio icon Rush Limbaugh died Wednesday at age 70 from what his wife said were complications of lung cancer. 

There are two main types of lung cancer that are diagnosed in patients including non-small cell lung cancer, which accounts for about 80-85% of cases. Non-small cell lung cancers include adenocarcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, large cell carcinoma and other subtypes. The second main type of lung cancer is small cell lung cancer, which accounts for the remaining 10-15% of cases diagnosed. About 70% of patients diagnosed with small cell lung cancer have cancer that has already spread at the time of diagnosis. It was not clear what type of lung cancer Limbaugh had, but in October he disclosed that his diagnosis was terminal. According to the American Cancer Society, lung cancer is by far the leading cause of cancer death among both men and women, with the average age of diagnosis being around age 70.