---
title: "Throw ThrowIfCancellationRequested in a Method that Returns a Value when Using a Cancellation Token"
url: https://daily.dev/posts/throw-throwifcancellationrequested-in-a-method-that-returns-a-value-when-using-a-cancellation-token-z0et7szbe
source_url: https://nodogmablog.bryanhogan.net/2024/01/throw-throwifcancellationrequested-in-a-method-that-returns-a-value-when-using-a-cancellation-token
type: article
source: "No Dogma Blog (Bryan Hogan)"
published: 2026-05-31T07:46:26.407Z
updated: 2026-05-31T09:02:16.401Z
tags: ["c#"]
reading_time: 3
upvotes: 0
comments: 0
language: en
---

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# Throw ThrowIfCancellationRequested in a Method that Returns a Value when Using a Cancellation Token

**[No Dogma Blog \(Bryan Hogan\)](https://daily.dev/sources/bryanhogan)** · 3 min read · 0 upvotes · 0 comments

## Summary

When a C# async method returns a value, cancellation via CancellationToken creates a dilemma: you must either return a dummy value or throw an exception. Returning a sentinel value like -1 is misleading to readers. The cleaner alternative is calling token.ThrowIfCancellationRequested(), which throws an OperationCanceledException that callers can catch. A code example shows running two tasks with Task.WhenAny, canceling the remaining task after the first completes, and handling the resulting exception in a foreach loop.

## Full article

daily.dev links to this article rather than hosting it. Read it at the original source: <https://nodogmablog.bryanhogan.net/2024/01/throw-throwifcancellationrequested-in-a-method-that-returns-a-value-when-using-a-cancellation-token>

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