It's heartbreaking when family members don't know when a suffering loved one will die. This is especially true for relatives of a person dealing with cancer.

Researchers have now identified eight signs that can tell when a person with cancer will die.

They focused on telltale signs that show a patient has just three days to live at most. The hope is this information will help family members and other caregivers better handle an impending death, as well as be more prepared for choices that may have to be made during end-of-life care.

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"I think the bottom line is that our study identified several classical signs that can be observed by the bedside by doctors, nurses and even family caregivers, which may help them to determine with confidence that the patient has entered the final days of life," said Dr. David Hui, study lead author and an assistant professor in the department of palliative care and rehabilitation medicine at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston.

For their study, Hui and his team studied 357 patients with advanced cancer who were admitted to palliative care. Half of the patients passed away during the course of the study. Based on their observation, researchers identified 52 physical and cognitive signs, eight of which were highly associated with impending death within three days.

Among the eight signs highly associated with death are decreased response to verbal stimuli; decreased response to visual stimuli; inability to close eyelids; drooping of the nasolabial fold (the skin fold that runs from the corner of the nose to the mouth, ie, "smile lines"); neck hyperextension; grunting of vocal cords and upper gastrointestinal bleeding.

The list can help and guide families know how long the suffering will take.

TagsCancer, how to fight cancer, eight signs of cancer, eight signs of dying, death, death in the family