There are ways you can tell when a cancer patient in the latest stages of disease is about to die.
These signs are an alert that death is very imminent.
“Cancer patients who are at the end of their life tend to be tired and weak, resulting in an increased requirement for sleep,” says Jonathan Stegall, MD, an integrative oncologist and medical director for The Center for Advanced Medicine, an adult cancer treatment center in Alpharetta, GA.
“They often lose the desire for food and drink, and frequently stop seeking interaction with others,” continues Dr. Stegall.
The aversion to eating even a small portion of their favorite foods is because their body, all its systems, is shutting down – and therefore has no need for any sustenance.
There will also be a reduced response to verbal stimuli.
In addition, according to a study (Hui et al), there is a reduced response to visual stimuli.
There may be a drooping of the so-called smile lines, along with grunting, hyperextension of the neck with the head tilting off the bed, eyes that do not close and pupils that do not react to changes in lighting.
These latter signs are not a 100 percent guarantee of imminent death (within three days), but the study says that very few patients who had these signs were alive more than three days later.
The study authors point out that due to the small number of subjects in this research, the results cannot be generalized to apply to illnesses other than cancer, nor to terminal cancer patients in all possible settings such as the patient’s home.
General Signs that Death Is Near for a Cancer Patient
Shutterstock/CandyBox Images
“Depending on the cancer type, pain levels can increase, resulting in a need for additional pain medication,” says Dr. Stegall.
“Breathing changes can also occur, ranging from more rapid breathing to some periods of apnea [paused breathing].
“Dying patients will sometimes become anxious, agitated and restless.
“They might see or hear things that aren’t there [or at least perceivable to family members], including loved-ones who previously died.
“Finally, patients who are close to death might lapse into a coma, where they are completely unresponsive.
“Although they are not responsive, it is believed that they continue to hear and perceive things around them.”
When a cancer patient is close to death, about to die, the process is actually pretty similar to that from other illnesses such as kidney failure, heart failure, systemic infection and COVID-19.
Whether caused by cancer or other conditions, the body shuts down pretty much the same across the board.
This is why the narrative of the dying process, that’s provided by hospice care services, is in template or general form rather than specific to a particular medical condition.
When cancer patients in movies and TV shows are shown dying (in bed), they’re typically talking and making good eye contact to a loved-one.
Then suddenly they cease talking and close their eyes, and for dramatic effect, the director has them move their head slightly away from the family member at the bedside.
In the end stage of a chronic, progressive disease (whether cancer or another illness), it certainly can happen that someone weakly speaks, then passes.
But in general, there’s a phase between their last spoken words, last open eyes – and when they take their last breath.
In acute injuries such as a stabbing or gunshot wound, a person can be talking quite a bit and then abruptly lose consciousness and die.
Jonathan Stegall, MD,
