The conception of birth, considered a spontaneous act, which results after a long heating process that refers to gestation, as well as the human life cycle, is, on an existential level, a heating process, but for another spontaneous act, death. In this study, we sought to understand the perceptions about finiteness that cancer patients in palliative care have. Being a qualitative, phenomenological study, semi-structured interviews were used, and Bardin's content analysis approach was used. Six patients admitted to an oncology clinic in a hospital in the west of Santa Catarina were interviewed. The results of this study demonstrate that cancer patients present the perception of presenting their own death, since the impact of the diagnosis causes adverse reactions, making it possible to question their own existence, as well as the restrictions that the disease imposes and the coping resources used, recognizing the responsibility of your choices will reflect the death process, since being aware of death makes you think about life. It is considered the need to promote spaces for listening and welcoming the anxieties of cancer patients in the hospital environment, with psychological care being essential to carry out interventions and improve comprehensive care for patients, helping to find or create meaning in existence, taking into account consideration of the cultural, spiritual and social context. Likewise, pay attention to total pain care, so that everyone who goes through a terminal illness has the relief and lightness of living until the act of death.