Many thought that cancer would take time before it could be fatal. However, that's not always the case, according to a report.
Teenager Dies From Cancer Just Hours After Diagnosis
A family was devastated after losing their sporty teenage son, who was diagnosed with leukemia. They had only learned about his condition, and he died just hours after diagnosis, sparking concerns about how fast cancer can kill someone.
Kyle Limper, 16, reportedly suffered back pain earlier this month after playing basketball. A few days later, he was so sick that he couldn't manage to stand.
His family didn't notice any signs of cancer. However, when his condition was diagnosed, his organs began to shut down, and he passed away within hours, Daily Mail reported.
Although the specific type of cancer Kyle had was not yet known, acute myeloid leukemia (AML) and acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) are the two that affect children the most frequently.
Before spreading to blood vessels and important organs, these malignancies cause white blood cells to proliferate uncontrollably within the body.
The ability of white blood cells to multiply quickly, which is only intended to be used when battling infections, is passed down to cancer, contributing to the speed of the disease progression.
How Fast Can Cancer Kill Someone?
According to Dr. Arif Kamal, the American Cancer Society's chief patient officer, leukemia patients could pass away as little as 24 hours after receiving a diagnosis because the disease spreads quickly and may only be discovered in its latter stages. This comes after pancreatic cancer claimed the life of Jerry Springer, 79, months after his diagnosis.
According to Dr. Kamal, cancer's late identification was probably a result of both signs being overlooked and the cancer's rapid progression.
Patients typically experience extreme exhaustion, sleep excessively, and may accidentally lose weight. But someone can overlook that, particularly if they're an athlete preoccupied with something strenuous.
How long Limper had the malignancy before he started experiencing back pain was unknown. According to Dr. Kamal, some varieties of leukemia, such as chronic leukemia, can cause patients to go months or even years without showing signs of the illness.
But symptoms typically show up within a few weeks because the initial cancerous cells divide quickly and spread throughout the body with AML and ALL.
The expert noted he met someone who was physically fine, but the next week, they did not feel as good, and when they returned, their white blood cell count had skyrocketed.
Kamal noted that the changes can happen in days. From his own experience, it's not surprising for someone who, say, a week or two ago, was fine and possibly had normal labs [vitals] for things to shift suddenly over days, such as in the case of Limper.
According to Medical News Today, cancer disrupts the process of cellular destruction and renewal. The outlet noted the different stages of cancer and how stage 4, the metastatic or advanced stage, can spread to other parts of the body.
Although it's difficult to predict one's final period or when death will occur, the outlet noted that some people die from cancer quicker than others due to unexpected complications or the severity of cancer. As cancer spreads, it can affect multiple organs and cause a range of serious symptoms, including loneliness, anxiety, increased heart rate, and lower blood pressure.
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