[Examination of taste threshold and serum zinc level change after chemotherapy].

For cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, there is an onset of a variety of adverse events related to treatment. Among the adverse events at the moment is taste disorder, for which there is no established effective supportive care. We report the measurement and study their relationship across the changes in serum zinc and changes in the taste of patients undergoing chemotherapy. For cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, taste threshold and serum zinc levels were measured on the day before administration of the therapeutic anti-cancer agent, and after administration of anticancer drugs on day 4 and day 7. Of taste thresholds in the test results, the threshold was salty on day 4 and day 7 after administration of anticancer agents, and a significant difference was found on day 7 after treatment with anticancer drugs on a day prior to administration of anticancer agents on day 1 (p<0. 001, p=0. 007), respectively. The serum zinc level was measured. There was no significant difference on day 7 after administration of anticancer agents and anti-cancer agent before administration on day 1 and day 7 after administration of anticancer drugs on day 4(p<0. 001, p<0. 05), respectively. A negative correlation was shown between the "salt of the fourth day threshold" and "serum zinc levels" (r=-0. 418, p<v0. 05). From the results of this study, salty and low serum zinc values tended to be blunted. The higher the serum zinc level was, the more sensitivity there was to salty taste.