The Lived Experience of Mortality in Cancer Care: A Phenomenologically Grounded Qualitative Study of Being-Towards-Death

Thomas Byrne, Susan E. Leggett, Jonas Techmanski, Aaryanna Zapata, Fanny Smithing, Rami Jameel, Richard Jun, Josh MacLeod, Addison McMillian, Vishwa Mallampooty, Peyton Blodgett, Joseph Tennant, Sheldon T. White, Liangtong Wu, Laboratory for Phenomenological Research, Coordinated Science Lab, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Department of Bioengineering, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Department of Philosophy, DePaul University, College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences, DePaul University

Qualitative Health Research

Published online on November 26, 2025

Abstract

Qualitative Health Research, Ahead of Print.
This paper presents findings from qualitative interviews with 19 cancer patients and survivors, examining how they experience and articulate the existential structure Heidegger calls being-towards-death. The study accomplishes two goals. First, it ...