“These are mostly patients with metastatic cancer,” she said. “They’ve made their peace with the outcome long before.”
For some, the rapid autopsy is simply the final phase of the clinical trial.
“They want to do something not only for themselves, but also to help others,” Dr. Roychowdhury said.
That’s how Linda Boyed, 52, of Lewis Center, Ohio, sees it. Like Mr. Beck, she has bile duct cancer and is enrolled in a trial to treat it. The drugs are working now, but Ms. Boyed said she has agreed to a rapid autopsy after death so scientists can learn from her when they’re no longer effective.