Taste Alterations in Cancer Patients Receiving Chemotherapy: A Neglected Side Effect?

Learning Objectives After completing this course, the reader will be able to: Evaluate the effect of various chemotherapy regimens on taste alterations. Investigate the effect of chemotherapy‐induced taste alterations on patients and use available dietary approaches such as taste enhancement and substitution of proteins and nutrients of avoided food to improve quality of life. This article is available for continuing medical education credit at CME.TheOncologist.com. Background. Taste alterations (TAs) are a frequent but under‐recognized treatment side effect in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy (CT). CT regimens with different toxicity profiles may vary in their impact on TAs, but research on this topic is lacking. This study assesses the prevalence of TAs and their relation to sociodemographic and clinical variables, especially CT regimens. Furthermore, the association between TAs and quality of life (QOL) is investigated. Patients and Methods. TAs and QOL data were collected longitudinally in 197 cancer patients (lung cancer, 54.3%; pancreatic cancer, 19.3%; colorectal cancer, 26.4%; age, 65.2 ±10.4 years; male, 57.4%) who were receiving CT at the Department of Internal Medicine at Kufstein County Hospital, giving rise to a total of 1,024 assessment times. Patients completed the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC) QLQ‐C30 questionnaire and two additional questions taken from the EORTC item bank concerning TAs. Statistical analyses were performed using mixed‐effect models. Results. The study showed that the prevalence of TAs in chemotherapy patients is alarmingly high (69.9%). There were clear differences in TA scores among treatment groups: patients receiving irinotecan reported significantly more TAs than patients in other treatment groups; patients receiving a combination of gemcitabine and a platinum agent reported the lowest TAs. Additionally, significant associations between TAs and several QOL dimensions were found, especially with appetite loss and fatigue. Conclusion. The high prevalence of TAs and their impact on QOL in CT patients underscore the urgent need for increased attention to this side effect, both in research and in clinical practice. This study assesses the prevalence of taste alterations in cancer patients and their relation to sociodemographic and clinical variables, especially chemotherapy regimens. Furthermore the association between taste alterations and quality of life is investigated.