End-of-life manifestations of cancer patients

When a cancer patient enters the advanced stage, the cancer cells can continuously spread to many parts of the body and multiple organ failure occurs, and the patient enters the terminal stage called advanced tumor. When a patient enters the terminal stage, there are major changes in vital signs, including pain, body temperature, blood pressure, pulse rate and respiration. Blood pressure may drop and pulse rate may slow down until it eventually disappears and is not palpable. Respiration can be intermittent, suspended, or slowed to no respiration. Some patients may develop hypothermia after a high fever. Patients with advanced cancer have pain, which can increase in the later stages, especially in the terminal phase. At the terminal stage of advanced cancer, it is no longer appropriate to do aggressive anti-tumor treatment, such as radiotherapy and chemotherapy. At this time, palliative treatments such as symptomatic pain relief should be applied to minimize the patient’s pain and help the patient spend the final time as comfortably as possible.