Recognizing when someone is nearing the end of life is crucial for providing compassionate and well-planned care. It allows doctors, families, and healthcare teams to make important decisions, offer better pain management, and ensure patients spend their final days with dignity. However, predicting when death is approaching is notoriously difficult, and often inaccurate.
In the North West, where lung cancer rates are significantly higher than the national average, improving end-of-life care is especially important. Lung, trachea, and bronchus cancer rates in the region are 20% higher than the rest of England. In North Wales, lung cancer is the third most common cancer, but it is responsible for the most cancer-related deaths in the region.
To help address this challenge, Dr. Séamus Coyle, funded by North West Cancer Research, is leading a groundbreaking study that could transform end-of-life care. His research focuses on lung cancer patients, analysing their urine samples to detect chemical changes that occur in the final month of life.
The study identified seven key chemicals that can predict, with high accuracy, when a patient is in their last 30 days. This method outperformed current prediction tools and provided reliable forecasts at multiple time points throughout the month.
Interestingly, the study also revealed that cancer patients typically do not die from sudden organ failure or infections, as is common in acute illness. Instead, their bodies undergo a gradual metabolic decline, with measurable changes in 125 different chemicals in the final weeks. These findings suggest there may be a distinct dying process linked to cancer.
Dr. Coyle’s research could lead to the development of a simple urine test, helping doctors identify when a patient is nearing the end of life earlier and more accurately. This would give families and healthcare teams more time to provide meaningful, compassionate care and reduce unnecessary or burdensome interventions.
