Nutrition Recommendations Supported by Artificial Intelligence for Taste Disorders During Cancer Treatment

Taste disturbances can often occur during or after cancer treatment, leading patients to eat less and have a less varied diet. This can lead to malnutrition or the discontinuation of cancer treatment. Cancer treatments such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy can impair the sense of taste because the taste buds on the tongue are constantly renewing themselves, and treatment can damage these rapidly dividing cells. Changes in saliva and the oral mucosa can also contribute to treatment-related taste disturbances, causing foods and beverages to be perceived differently than usual. A metallic taste is one of the taste changes frequently reported by patients undergoing chemotherapy. To date, taste disorders have primarily been treated without medication, through general dietary and behavioral recommendations.

The aim of this study is to compare how individually tailored dietary recommendations affect nutritional status compared to the currently standard general recommendations. The recommendations are adapted to each patient’s altered taste perception; for example, by increasing the intake of cold foods when a metallic taste is present. To this end, patients are randomly assigned to two treatment groups. For all patients, the change in taste is first assessed using taste strips—a test method commonly used in medicine to evaluate the sense of taste—and questionnaires. In the study arm, based on this assessment, an internet platform that uses artificial intelligence compiles general and targeted dietary recommendations, everyday tips, and recipe suggestions tailored to the patient’s specific taste change and personal preferences. The control arm receives the currently standard, scientifically published recommendations for taste disorders in the form of a printed flyer. The study is open-label, meaning that both the patients and the study physicians know which recommendations are being given. The main objective (primary endpoint) of the study is nutritional status within 12 weeks of enrollment in the study.

Eligible participants include women and men aged 18 and older with multiple myeloma, melanoma, cancer of the urogenital tract, or a malignant tumor of the gastrointestinal tract, who notice taste disturbances caused by their cancer treatment and who primarily eat a normal diet.