title: Electrical taste detection thresholds and chemical smell detection thresholds in patients with cancer.
abstract: Taste sensation in patients with cancer has previously been studied with the cumbersome method of chemical gustometry, which have produced inconsistent results. In this study taste thresholds were determined with the simple and reliable technique of electrogustometry in 51 patients with cancers of the lung (small cell), ovary or breast, and in 29 matched control patients with nonneoplastic disease. Chemical smell thresholds for phenyl-methyl-ethyl-carbinol were studied in the same group of patients. Electrical taste threshold was higher in patients with cancer compared with control patients (30 [12 to 80] microA versus 9.5 [6.1 to 24] microA; median [interquartile range], P less than 0.001). No differences were seen in smell thresholds. Patients who responded to chemotherapy obtained a decreased electrogustometric threshold at time of reevaluation (24 [8 to 64] microA versus 30 [15 to 90] microA; median [interquartile range], P less than 0.05). These results suggest an effect of the malignant disease itself on taste thresholds.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine C, Bispebjerg University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark.
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Ovesen
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Sørensen
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hannibal
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Allingstrup
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000970:Antineoplastic Agents / Q000627:therapeutic use; D001835:Body Weight; D004558:Electric Stimulation; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000473:pathology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D012684:Sensory Thresholds / Q000187:drug effects; D012903:Smell / Q000187:drug effects; D013223:Statistics as Topic; D013652:Taste Threshold / Q000187:drug effects
chemical_list: D000970:Antineoplastic Agents