Attempts to prevent dysgeusia through the prophylactic use of zinc sulfate or amifostine have been of limited benefit .
Nutritional counseling may be helpful to some patients in minimizing the symptoms of dysgeusia .
Conclusions Dysgeusia is a common oral side effect of cancer therapy ( radiotherapy , chemotherapy , or combined modality therapy ) and often impacts negatively on quality of life .
From the current literature , there does not appear to be a predictable way of preventing or treating dysgeusia
Purpose The purpose was to review relevant scientific papers written since 1989 which focused on the prevalence and management of  dysgeusia as an oral side effect of cancer treatment .
Radiochemotherapy with amifostine cytoprotection for head and neck cancer
Abstract A r and omized study was conducted to evaluate the protective activity of amifostine ( A ) against the dose-limiting toxicities of radiochemotherapy ( RCT ) .  Patients with head and neck cancer received radiotherapy  ( 2 Gy/day 5 days a week up to 60 Gy ) with carboplatin 70 mg/m2 on days 1–5 and 21–25 inclusive . Patients either received RCT alone ( n=14 ) or RCT + A at a dose of 500 mg prior to treatment with carboplatin ( n=25 ) . There was a significant reduction in the incidence of grade 3/4 mucositis ( P<0.0001 ) , acute grade 2 xerostomia ( P<0.0001 ) and grade 3/4 thrombocytopenia ( P=0.012 ) in these patients who received A. The incidence of grade 2 late xerostomia at 12 months is 16.7 % and the incidence of loss of taste is 0 % in patients treated with A , as opposed to 54.5 % and 63.6 % in patients who received RCT alone . There were 18 ( 72 % ) complete responses ( CR ) and 6 ( 24 % ) partial responses ( PR ) in patients who received A , compared with 6 ( 43 % ) CR and 6 PR ( 43 % ) in patients treated with RCT alone . The disease-free survival at 12 months is 85.7 % in the RCT + A arm and 78.6 % in the RCT alone arm . The use of amifostine reduces the incidence and severity of acute and late toxicities associated with RCT whilst preserving antitumour activity
Attempts to prevent dysgeusia through the prophylactic use of zinc sulfate or amifostine have been of limited benefit .
Nutritional counseling may be helpful to some patients in minimizing the symptoms of dysgeusia .
Conclusions Dysgeusia is a common oral side effect of cancer therapy ( radiotherapy , chemotherapy , or combined modality therapy ) and often impacts negatively on quality of life .
From the current literature , there does not appear to be a predictable way of preventing or treating dysgeusia
Purpose The purpose was to review relevant scientific papers written since 1989 which focused on the prevalence and management of  dysgeusia as an oral side effect of cancer treatment .