Department of Psychiatry and Psychotherapy, Innsbruck Medical University, Innsbruck, Austria.
J Pain Symptom Manage. 2012 Dec;44(6):880-95. doi: 10.1016/j.jpainsymman.2011.11.011. Epub 2012 Aug 24.
Taste alterations (TAs) and smell alterations (SAs) are frequently observed, yet understudied side effects in chemotherapy patients, considerably affecting patients' quality of life.
This review provides a systematic evaluation of the literature on TAs and SAs in cancer chemotherapy patients and discloses understudied research questions.
A systematic methodology based on the PRISMA guidelines was applied to identify original research articles with TAs and SAs as primary outcomes in chemotherapy patients. MEDLINE and Embase were searched using Medical Subject Heading and free-text terms. Study extraction and evaluation were done by three reviewers using predefined criteria.
The search revealed 22 eligible studies, including three randomized controlled trials. Different measurement approaches were identified, with a clear trend toward self-report measures during the past decade. The methodological quality of the included studies varied, especially reports on SAs, which were inconsistent and hard to interpret. Regarding TAs, there is evidence that taste thresholds increase during chemotherapy. Qualitative changes, for example, metallic taste, are frequent but cannot be attributed to specific chemotherapy regimens. There are large research gaps regarding TAs and SAs in different patient populations and the impact of different chemotherapy regimens. Adequate management strategies are rare.
Current research results do not allow firm conclusions concerning the occurrence, severity, and quality of TAs and SAs under different chemotherapy regimens. Patient information on TAs and SAs, therefore, largely is based on the clinician's experience. In the palliative care setting, TAs and SAs need further investigation in the light of their importance in preventing food-related problems and maintaining a reasonable quality of life.
味觉改变（TAs）和嗅觉改变（SAs）是化疗患者中经常观察到的，但研究较少的副作用，极大地影响了患者的生活质量。
本综述对癌症化疗患者 TAs 和 SAs 的文献进行了系统评价，并揭示了研究较少的问题。
采用基于 PRISMA 指南的系统方法，确定了以 TAs 和 SAs 为主要结局的化疗患者的原始研究文章。使用医学主题词和自由文本术语在 MEDLINE 和 Embase 上进行搜索。研究提取和评估由三名评审员使用预定义标准进行。
搜索结果显示，有 22 项符合条件的研究，其中包括 3 项随机对照试验。确定了不同的测量方法，在过去十年中，自我报告测量方法的趋势明显。纳入研究的方法学质量差异很大，特别是关于 SAs 的报告，结果不一致且难以解释。关于 TAs，有证据表明味觉阈值在化疗期间增加。定性变化，例如金属味，很常见，但不能归因于特定的化疗方案。不同患者人群和不同化疗方案的 TAs 和 SAs 存在很大的研究空白。适当的管理策略很少。
目前的研究结果不能对不同化疗方案下 TAs 和 SAs 的发生、严重程度和质量做出明确的结论。因此，关于 TAs 和 SAs 的患者信息在很大程度上基于临床医生的经验。在姑息治疗环境中，TAs 和 SAs 需要进一步研究，以了解其在预防与食物相关的问题和维持合理生活质量方面的重要性。
