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Taste changes in children with cancer and hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients

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Abstract

Background

Objectives were to describe bothersome self-reported changes in taste in pediatric oncology and hematopoietic stem cell (HSCT) patients and to identify patient and treatment-related factors associated with bothersome taste changes.

Methods

We prospectively enrolled children and adolescents with cancer or pediatric HSCT recipients 8–18 years of age from three groups: inpatients receiving cancer treatments; outpatients in maintenance therapy for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL); and outpatients in survivorship. Bothersome changes in taste was self-reported using the Symptom Screening in Pediatrics Tool (SSPedi); nausea was self-reported using the Pediatric Nausea Assessment Tool (PeNAT).

Results

Among the 502 children included, 226 (45.0%) reported bothersome taste changes and 48 (9.6%) reported severely bothersome taste changes. In multiple regression, factors independently associated with severely bothersome taste changes were: inpatients receiving cancer treatments vs outpatients in survivorship (odds ratio (OR) 12.28, 95% confidence interval (CI) 2.50–222.27), ALL in maintenance vs outpatients in survivorship (OR 7.43, 95% CI 1.06–147.77), current nausea (OR 1.59, 95% CI 1.04–2.42), vomiting (OR 2.18, 95% CI 1.06–4.38), and first language not English (OR 2.09, 95% CI 0.97–4.28).

Conclusions

We found that 45% of children with cancer and pediatric HSCT recipients reported bothersome changes in taste and these were severely bothersome in 9.6% of children. Inpatients receiving cancer treatment, those experiencing more nausea and vomiting and children whose first language was not English were at greater risk of severely bothersome changes in taste. Future work should evaluate systematic symptom screening in clinical practice and identify interventions focused on addressing bothersome taste changes.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful for the generosity of the patients and parents who participated in this study. We wish to thank all the clinical research associates and nurses who were involved in this study at each site.

Funding

This research is funded by The Pedal for Hope Impact Grant of the Canadian Cancer Society (grant #702295).

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Program in Child Health Evaluative Sciences, The Hospital for Sick Children, Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning, 686 Bay Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 0A4, Canada

    Robyn Loves, Deborah Tomlinson, Shannon Hyslop, L. Lee Dupuis & Lillian Sung

  2. Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Stanford University School of Medicine, 800 Welch Road, MC5757, Palo Alto, CA, 94304, USA

    Christina Baggott

  3. Division of Hematology/Oncology/BMT, Department of Pediatrics, BC Children’s Hospital, 4480 Oak Street Room B315, Vancouver, V6H 3V4, Canada

    David Dix

  4. Haematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, London Health Sciences Centre, 800 Commissioners Road East, London, Ontario, N6A 5W9, Canada

    Paul Gibson

  5. Division of Hematology/Oncology, Children’s Hospital of Eastern Ontario, 401 Smyth Road, Ottawa, Ontario, K1H 8L1, Canada

    Donna L. Johnston

  6. Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Connecticut Children’s Medical Center, 282 Washington Street, Hartford, CT, 06106, USA

    Andrea D. Orsey

  7. Division of Haematology/Oncology, McMaster Children’s Hospital, Health Sciences Centre, 1280 Main Street West, Hamilton, Ontario, L8S 4K1, Canada

    Carol Portwine

  8. Division of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Department of Pediatrics, IWK Health Centre, 5850/5980 University Avenue, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3K 6R8, Canada

    Victoria Price

  9. Division of Haematology/Oncology, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 1X8, Canada

    Tal Schechter & Lillian Sung

  10. Pediatric Hematology/Oncology/BMT, CancerCare Manitoba, Research Institute in Oncology and Hematology, Departments of Pediatrics & Child Health and Biochemistry & Medical Genetics, University of Manitoba, 675 McDermot Avenue, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3E 0V9, Canada

    Magimairajan Vanan

  11. Ontario Parents Advocating for Children with Cancer (OPACC), 99 Citation Drive, Toronto, Ontario, M2K 1S9, Canada

    Susan Kuczynski

  12. Department of Psychology, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 1X8, Canada

    Brenda Spiegler

  13. Department of Medicine, Toronto General Hospital, 200 Elizabeth Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 2C4, Canada

    George A. Tomlinson

  14. Department of Pharmacy, The Hospital for Sick Children, 555 University Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M5G 1X8, Canada

    L. Lee Dupuis

  15. Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto, Toronto, Canada

    L. Lee Dupuis

Authors
  1. Robyn Loves
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  2. Deborah Tomlinson
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  3. Christina Baggott
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  4. David Dix
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  5. Paul Gibson
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  6. Shannon Hyslop
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  7. Donna L. Johnston
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  8. Andrea D. Orsey
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  9. Carol Portwine
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  10. Victoria Price
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  11. Tal Schechter
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  12. Magimairajan Vanan
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  13. Susan Kuczynski
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  14. Brenda Spiegler
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  15. George A. Tomlinson
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  16. L. Lee Dupuis
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  17. Lillian Sung
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Lillian Sung.

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Child participants and their parents provided informed consent or assent as appropriate.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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Loves, R., Tomlinson, D., Baggott, C. et al. Taste changes in children with cancer and hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients. Support Care Cancer 27, 2247–2254 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-018-4509-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-018-4509-2

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