Taste alterations in breast and gynaecological cancer patients receiving chemotherapy: Prevalence, course of severity, and quality of life correlates

Figures & data

Table I. Patient characteristics (n = 109).

Age (years)	Mean (SD)	61.0 (12.8)
	Range	29–86
Time since baseline (days)	Mean (SD)	54.6 (46.0)
	Range	0–177
Marital status	Single	8.4%
	Married/with partner	57.8%
	Divorced/separated	7.2%
	Widowed	26.5%
Employment status	Full employment	13.0%
	Part-time employment	6.5%
	Homemaker	24.7%
	Retired/pension	53.2%
	Other	2.6%
Tumour type	Breast	67.9%
Chemotherapy regimen	Gemcitabine	5.4%
	Viroelbine	6.8%
	Epirubicin, docetaxel	14.9%
	Epirubicin, cyclophosphamide	2.7%
	Epirubicin, cyclophosphamide, 5- fluorouracil	14.9%
	Carboplatin, paclitaxel	0.8%
	Paclitaxel	16.2%
	Epirubicin, docetaxel, capecitabine	6.8%
	Other regimens	32.4%
	Gynaecological	32.1%
	Gemcitabine	17.1%
	Carboplatin, paclitaxel	34.3%
	Carboplatin	22.9%
	Other regimens	25.7%
Stage (FIGO)	I	8.1%
	II	39.5%
	III	33.7%
	IV	18.6%
Recurrence	No	79.2%
	Yes	20.8%
Chemotherapy regimen* (mean # of cycles)	Gemcitabine (2.16)	13.4%
	Vinorelbine (1.24)	11.3%
	Epirubicin, docetaxel (1.61)	10.2%
	Epirubicin, cyclophosphamide (1.27)	5.7%
	Epirubicin, cyclophosphamide, 5- fluorouracil (1.48)	7.9%
	Carboplatin, paclitaxel (1.57)	7.8%
	Paclitaxel (1.92)	9.5%
	Epirubicin, docetaxel, capecitabine (1.57)	4.5%
	Carboplatin (1.63)	4.5%
	Other regimens (1.67)	25.1%

*Percentages refer to total number of assessments (n = 529).

Table II. Frequency of taste alterations in patients diagnosed with breast cancer or gynaecological tumours across all time points (n = 529).

Taste alterations	Breast cancer	Gynaecological tumours
None	49.2%	58.1%
Mild	22.0%	22.5%
Moderate	12.6%	12.4%
Severe	16.0%	7.0%

Table III. Mixed effect model with age, time since baseline and chemotherapy regimen as predictors of taste alterations.

Parameter	β	SE	t/F	p
Intercept	6.0	6.8	F = 99.14	< 0.001
Age (years)	0.49	0.22	F = 4.70	0.032
Time since baseline (days)	0.19	0.03	F = 32.99	< 0.001
Chemotherapy regimen			F = 3.02	0.002
Vinorelbine	10.9	8.7	t = 1.250	0.212
Epirubicin, cyclophosphamide	27.9	9.3	t = 3.023	0.003
Epirubicin, cyclophosphamide, 5-fluorouracil	32.5	10.1	t = 3.212	0.001
Epirubicin, docetaxel, capecitabine	49.1	13.0	t = 3.783	< 0.001
Carboplatin	2.4	9.8	t = 0.245	0.807
Carboplatin, paclitaxel	10.4	9.4	t = 1.113	0.267
Paclitaxel	18.5	9.6	t = 1.933	0.054
Epirubicin, docetaxel	35.1	9.8	t = 3.587	< 0.001
Other regimens	25.5	7.5	t = 3.400	0.001
Gemcitabine (reference category)	0	0	.	.

For calculating parameter estimates for taste alterations in different chemotherapy regimens estimates were adjusted to mean age and mean time since baseline.

Figure 1. Estimated mean taste alterations for different chemotherapy regimens (adjusted to mean age and mean time since baseline; 100 max).

Figure 2. Course of taste alterations over time (SE = standard error).