“I just don’t like steak anymore”: understanding taste disturbances in cancer patients

Taste disturbances are a frequent and often under­ap­pre­cia­ted complication of chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Al­though these disturbances are generally not life-threate­ning, they warrant clinical attention due to their potential to substantially impact patients’ quality of life and ad­he­rence to treatment regimens. Taste alterations can be clas­si­fied into various categories based on the quality of the chan­ges, and their severity can be assessed using tools such as the Common Terminology Criteria for Adverse Events (CTCAE) and the Scale of Subjective Total Taste Acuity (STTA). The European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) re­com­mends that healthcare providers inform patients ex­pe­rien­cing chemotherapy- or radiotherapy-induced taste disturbances about available dietary counseling and self-care strategies. While some studies have demonstrated pro­mi­sing results with interventions such as zinc sup­ple­men­ta­tion (notably polaprezinc), dronabinol and megestrol ace­tate, further research is necessary to establish their ef­fi­cacy and broader clinical applicability.