Measuring Objective Taste Changes in Head and Neck Cancer Population After RT

In a conversation with CancerNetwork^®, Noah S. Kalman, MD, MBA, discussed the background of a study evaluating the extent of taste changes in patients with head and neck cancer receiving radiotherapy. This study was presented at the 2024 American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) Annual Meeting.

Kalman, a radiation oncologist specializing in the treatment of gynecologic, head and neck, thoracic and pediatric cancers, melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers, and sarcoma at Miami Cancer Institute of Baptist Health Medical Group, noted that current methods of assessing taste changes in this population may rely on subjective interpretation. As part of this prospective study, Kalman and coinvestigators employed a test designed to evaluate granular details of taste changes before, during, and after radiotherapy on a more objective basis.

Investigators of this study used the Waterless Empirical Taste Test to determine a concentration threshold for the 5 basic tastes: sweet, sour, salty, bitter, and umami. Patients received cellulose pads containing different taste concentrations as part of recording their perceived tastes, with responses being compared with a scoring key. Analysis of taste changes included assessments at baseline, 2 weeks thereafter, 4 weeks during radiotherapy, the end of radiotherapy, and at 12 weeks following radiotherapy.

Transcript:

We have an interest in taste changes in these patients who are getting head and neck radiation because it is a very common [adverse] effect of treatment. Early on in a patient’s radiation course, patients will have loss of taste and changes in their taste, and this both affects their quality of life and can also lead to weight loss and increased difficulty with tolerating their treatment. Unlike some of the other common radiation [adverse] effects for head and neck cancers, taste changes are not that well understood. Currently, the way we grade toxicities regarding taste is very subjective. It’s usually graded as either no change, mild change, or significant change. That can lead to some differences in interpretation and a lot of difficulties in trying to tease out smaller differences that may be present. In our current study, we used an objective taste test to score how well patients were tasting before treatment, during treatment, and then afterwards. Our goal is to get much more granular detail on changes in taste during treatment and get results that are objective instead of subjective.

Reference

Yarlagadda S, Alzmanzar A, Rubens M, Kalman N. Taste changes in patients receiving head and neck radiation – initial analysis from a prospective study. Presented at: 2024 American Society for Radiation Oncology Annual Meeting; September 29-October 2, 2024; Washington, DC. Abstract 3762.