Relation between acute and late irradiation impairment of four basic tastes and irradiated tongue volume in patients with head-and-neck cancer
- Department of Radiology, University of Tokyo Hospital, Tokyo (Japan)
- Department of Applied Biological Chemistry, University of Tokyo, Tokyo (Japan)
- Department of Otolaryngology, University of Tokyo Hospital, Tokyo (Japan)
- Comprehensive Training Center, University of Tokyo, Tokyo (Japan)
Purpose: Taste loss is a major cause of morbidity in patients undergoing head-and-neck irradiation. The relationship between the time course and the degree of taste disorder was studied in both acute and late phases. Methods and Materials: Taste ability was measured by the taste threshold for the four basic tastes using a filter paper disc method in patients before, during, and after radiotherapy. The subjects were divided into two groups. In Group A, Radiation fields included most of the tongue (n = 100), and in Group B Radiation fields did not include the tip of the tongue (n = 18). Results: In Group A, there was a significant impairment of the threshold of all four basic tastes at 3 weeks after starting radiotherapy (RT), and this impairment remained at 8 weeks (p < 0.05). This was not seen in Group B. In Group A, there was no significant difference in the patterns of taste sensitivity change between the high-dose (>20 Gy) and low-dose ({<=}20 Gy) groups. In the late phase, recovery of taste loss was seen in both groups since 4 months after completing RT. Conclusions: Unless the anterior part of the tongue was irradiated, taste loss was not observed during RT. When the anterior part of the tongue was irradiated, a difference by radiation dose was not observed in the taste loss pattern. Additionally, radiation-induced taste dysfunction appears to be a temporal effect.
- OSTI ID:
- 20850266
- Journal Information:
- International Journal of Radiation Oncology, Biology and Physics, Vol. 66, Issue 5; Other Information: DOI: 10.1016/j.ijrobp.2006.08.037; PII: S0360-3016(06)02764-7; Copyright (c) 2006 Elsevier Science B.V., Amsterdam, Netherlands, All rights reserved; Country of input: International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA); ISSN 0360-3016
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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