CANCER: COULD A METALLIC TASTE IN THE MOUTH SIGNAL CANCER?

CANCER: COULD A METALLIC TASTE IN THE MOUTH SIGNAL CANCER?

I’d like to know whether cancer symptoms can alter a patient’s taste perception – or produce different tastes in their mouth.

Of course, yes. For example, neck tumors or growth in areas affecting taste buds, nerve damage, and low nutrient amounts in the body, such as, niacin and zinc.

There is evidence online that a metallic taste is a common side effect of cancer treatment, but can it also be a side effect of the disease itself?

Yes, that is right because it happens mainly to patients receiving radiation around the head and neck. The radiation affects taste by altering oral cavity cells. As a result, these cells extend in regeneration, making one experience changes in taste.

I’d appreciate any information on different tastes that may signal cancer.

Potential tastes include;

  • Little or no taste in food
  • Metallic taste in food
  • Food tasting like ‘chemicals’
  • Foods tasting sweeter, bitter, salty, or sour compared to earlier.
Barbara Santini

Barbara is a freelance writer and a sex and relationships adviser at Dimepiece LA and Peaches and Screams. Barbara is involved in various educational initiatives aimed at making sex advice more accessible to everyone and breaking stigmas around sex across various cultural communities. In her spare time, Barbara enjoys trawling through vintage markets in Brick Lane, exploring new places, painting and reading.

Latest from Ask the Expert