Tastes can change, outcomes shouldn't
Addressing taste changes in patients with cancer with sensational flavours
Up to 70% of patients with cancer experience taste alterations1. This represents a high burden for patients with significant impact on patients' quality of life2.
Taste changes can contribute to malnutrition3-5, an important predictor of mortality, reduced tolerance to anti-cancer treatments and impaired quality of life6,7. Identifying and treating early signs of malnutrition with medical nutrition can improve outcomes in patients with cancer8-12.
Sensory alterations may include hypo- or hypersensitivity to taste or smells, or distortion of taste (dysgeusia)14,15. To compensate for taste changes, often patients describe the need for more intense taste stimuli by deliberately adding more spices, salt and ginger to their meals helping stimulate a sensory response; while others describe a need for less intense flavors4,16.