Lost my grandfather to esophageal cancer in summer 2002. I stayed home that summer to care for him. It was the most horrible thing I've ever witnessed. The tumor closed up his esophagus and he literally starved to death. A horrible, slow, painful thing.
He had prostate cancer before that, but beat it.

Lost my uncle to cancer in 1997. By the time he figured out he was sick, it had spread to his liver, lungs, brain, lymph nodes...everywhere. We're not even sure where it started. He died four days after he was diagnosed. Very sudden for all of us.