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. 2021 Oct;29(10):5691-5699.
doi: 10.1007/s00520-021-06049-4. Epub 2021 Feb 25.

Self-reported taste and smell alterations and the liking of oral nutritional supplements with sensory-adapted flavors in cancer patients receiving systemic antitumor treatment

Jacco J de Haan  1 , Remco J Renken  2 , Yvette Moshage  3 , Daniëlle A Kluifhooft  3 , Camille Corbier  4 , Louise E Daly  4 , Hélène Blanchard  4 , Anna K L Reyners  3
Affiliations

Self-reported taste and smell alterations and the liking of oral nutritional supplements with sensory-adapted flavors in cancer patients receiving systemic antitumor treatment

Jacco J de Haan et al. Support Care Cancer. 2021 Oct.

Abstract

Purpose: Taste and smell alterations (TAs and SAs) are often reported by patients with cancer receiving systemic antitumor therapy and can negatively impact food intake and quality of life. This study aimed to examine the occurrence of TAs and SAs and investigate the impact of TAs on overall liking of oral nutritional supplements (ONS) with warming and cooling sensations.

Methods: Patients receiving systemic antitumor therapy completed a questionnaire on sensory alterations and evaluated overall liking of 5 prototype flavors of Nutridrink® Compact Protein (hot tropical ginger (HTG), hot mango (HM), cool red fruits (CRF), cool lemon (CL), and neutral (N)) on a 10-point scale via a sip test. Differences between patients with and without TAs were investigated using permutation analysis.

Results: Fifty patients with various cancer types and treatments were included. Thirty patients (60%) reported TAs and 13 (26%) experienced SAs. Three flavors were rated highly with a liking score > 6 (CRF 6.8 ± 1.7; N 6.5 ± 1.9; HTG 6.0 ± 2.0). Larger variation in ONS liking scores was observed in patients with TAs with or without SAs (4.5-6.9 and 4.6-7.2, respectively) vs. patients without TAs (5.9-6.5). TAs were associated with increased liking of CRF (Δ = + 0.9) and N (Δ = + 1.0) flavors.

Conclusions: TAs and SAs are common in patients with cancer undergoing systemic antitumor therapy. Patients with TAs were more discriminant in liking of ONS flavors compared to patients without TAs, and sensory-adapted flavors appeared to be appreciated. The presence of TAs should be considered when developing or selecting ONS for patients with cancer.

Trial registration: Registration at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT03525236) on 26 April 2018.

Keywords: Chemotherapy; Oral nutritional supplements; Smell alterations; Taste alterations.

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Conflict of interest statement

CC, LD, and HB are employed by Danone Nutricia Research. The other authors have no relevant financial or non-financial interests to disclose.

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Product liking in all patients and according to the presence of sensory alterations. Product liking in a range from 1 to 10 is given for all patients (a), for patients without taste or smell alterations (T-S-) (b), for patients with taste alterations without smell alterations (T+S-) (c), and for patients with taste and smell alterations (T+S+) (d). CL, cool lemon; HM, hot mango; HTG, hot tropical ginger; N, neutral; CRF, cool red fruit
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Relative liking score per product for patients with and without taste alterations. CL, cool lemon; HM, hot mango; HTG, hot tropical ginger; N, neutral; CRF, cool red fruit. *p < 0.05
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Overall liking of the 5 ONS prototype in a patients without taste or smell alterations (T-S-), b patients with taste but without smell alterations (T+S-), and c in patients with both taste and smell alterations (T+S+). CL, cool lemon; HM, hot mango; HTG, hot tropical ginger; N, neutral; CRF, cool red fruit. *p < 0.05
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