Not through traditional underwriting. Carriers postpone rather than decline during active treatment. Guaranteed issue asks no health questions and remains available, and group cover through an employer needs no individual underwriting.
This is the hardest moment to be looking for cover, and there are still two real options.
Why traditional underwriting is closed
During active treatment the outcome is not yet known, so there is nothing for a carrier to price. Applications are postponed rather than declined — a distinction that matters, because a postpone does not carry the same weight on your record as a decline when you reapply later.
Guaranteed issue
Guaranteed issue asks no health questions at all. That is the entire mechanism, and it is what makes it available here. The trade-offs are real: face amounts are small, premiums are high per thousand of cover, and the first two or three years carry a graded death benefit, meaning death from natural causes inside that window returns premiums rather than the face amount.
Whether that is worth buying depends honestly on the prognosis, and it is a conversation worth having plainly rather than optimistically.
Group cover
The most overlooked option. Employer group life is issued without individual medical underwriting up to the guaranteed amount, so a diagnosis does not disqualify you from enrolling at the next open enrolment. If you already have it, understand the conversion right before employment ends — see group conversion.
Existing policies
Check for an accelerated death benefit rider. Many modern policies allow part of the death benefit to be drawn early on a terminal or chronic illness diagnosis.
The full treatment of this topic is on Cancer history.