Metallic Taste in Cancer Patients Treated with Systemic Therapy: A Questionnaire-based Study

Figures & data

Table 1. Characteristics of the patients.

	Cancer patients (N = 127)
Age (years), mean ± SD	56.8 ± 13.7
Gender, male N (%)	54 (43)
Treatment group, N (%)
Platinum-based CT	27 (21)
Taxane-based CT	9 (7)
Other CT	33 (26)
Hormonal therapy	13 (10)
TKI treatment	13 (10)
Other targeted treatment	23 (18)
Concomitant radiotherapy	9 (7)
Most recent treatment, N (%)
<1 mo ago	109 (86)
Between 1 and 3 mo ago	8 (6)
>3 mo ago	10 (8)
Number of received CT courses, N (%)
1	9 (13)
2	14 (20)
3	16 (23)
4	16 (23)
5	3 (4)
6	8 (12)
>6	3 (4)
Duration of treatment (HT and TT), N (%)
<1 mo	4 (8)
Between 1 and 3 mo	17 (35)
>3 mo	28 (57)

CT, chemotherapy; TKI, tyrosine kinase inhibitors; HT, hormonal therapy; TT, targeted therapy.

Table 2. Prevalence of taste changes and metallic taste across treatment groups.

Treatment group (TG)	N	Taste changes since diagnosis N (% of TG)	Taste changes preceding week N (% of TG)	Metallic taste N (% of TG)
Platinum-based CT	27	20 (74)	12 (44)	4 (15)
Taxane-based CT	9	7 (78)	6 (67)	4 (44)
Other CT	33	21 (64)	17 (52)	6 (18)
Hormonal therapy	13	9 (69)	5 (39)	2 (15)
TKI treatment	13	7 (54)	7 (54)	1 (8)
Other targeted treatment	23	11 (48)	8 (35)	2 (9)
Concomitant radiotherapy	9	4 (44)	3 (33)	1 (11)

CT, chemotherapy; TKI, tyrosine kinase inhibitors.

Table 3. Responses to the statements (frequency, N) concerning the characteristics of metallic taste: perceived intensity, sensation evoked by food products, continuous sensation, consequences regarding the ability to eat in general, consequences regarding the ability to eat certain foods, and duration (N = 19).

Statement	Not at all	A little	Quite a bit	Very much	I do not know
The metallic taste:
Is intense	1	13	5	—	—
Becomes stronger when I eat^a	10	4	3	1	—
Is present throughout the day	4	14	1	—	—
Bothers me with food in general	7	5	5	1	1
Bothers me only with certain foods	6	6	4	1	2
Duration metallic taste	<1 wk	1 wk to 1 mo	1–3 mo	>3 mo	I do not know
	1	7	4	4	3

^a N = 18.

Table 4. Predictors of metallic taste including age, gender, treatment group, and time since most recent treatment in the logistic model (N = 58).

		95% CI for odds ratio
Included	B (SE)	Lower	Odds ratio	Upper
Constant	−1.53 (0.49)
Gender	1.53 (0.61)	1.38	4.60	15.32

Table 5. Predictors of metallic taste including age, gender, treatment group, time since most recent treatment, and factors associated with taste changes in the logistic model (N = 38).

		95% CI for odds ratio
Included	B (SE)	Lower	Odds ratio	Upper
Constant	−19.89 (8.43)
Gender	4.88 (2.43)	1.13	130.95	15235.98
Sour food bothers me	2.78 (1.37)	1.11	16.17	234.70
Fatty food bothers me	1.99 (1.09)	0.86	7.32	62.30
Everything tastes bitter	5.28 (2.39)	1.81	195.80	21141.98

Table 6. Predictors of metallic taste including age, gender, treatment group, time since most recent treatment, and the three questions related to metallic taste derived from the second model in the logistic model (N = 54).

		95% CI for odds ratio
Included	B (SE)	Lower	Odds ratio	Upper
Constant	−5.49 (1.59)
Gender	2.03 (0.80)	1.59	7.59	36.36
Sour food bothers me	0.88 (0.41)	1.07	2.41	5.42
Everything tastes bitter	1.81 (0.87)	1.13	6.14	33.44