Chemosensory Dysfunction in Cancer Care: Why Taste and Smell Deserve a Seat at the Table

For millions of cancer patients, the fight doesn’t stop at diagnosis or treatment. It lingers in the invisible aftershocks—like the sudden loss or distortion of taste and smell. Yet despite how deeply these senses affect appetite, nutrition, memory, mood, and overall quality of life, they remain largely ignored in standard oncology care.

A 2025 study published in the Journal of Cancer Education by Stromberg et al. makes the case clear: chemosensory dysfunction is common, disruptive, and under-addressed.

Here’s what the numbers say:

• Up to 86% of patients undergoing chemotherapy experience taste changes.

• 60% report smell alterations.

• These changes can persist in 30–60% of patients long after treatment ends.

• More than half of those affected say they received no support or guidance from their care team.

Despite these impacts, fewer than 1 in 4 oncology clinicians routinely ask about taste or smell—and only 11% of cancer trials track these outcomes.

We cannot afford to ignore this any longer.

THE HIDDEN COST OF CHEMOSENSORY LOSS

Taste and smell are not “nice-to-haves.” They are gateways to nutrition, safety, pleasure, and emotional well-being. When disrupted, they can lead to malnutrition, social withdrawal, depression, and cognitive decline—especially in already vulnerable populations.

As one cancer survivor put it: “I felt like food betrayed me. Nothing tasted right, and no one understood what I was going through.”

This disconnect is not a failure of compassion. It’s a failure of education—and a fixable one.

Education Is Treatment

The authors of the study call for a simple but radical shift: make chemosensory education a standard part of oncology training and patient care. That means:

• Teaching clinicians how to recognize and validate sensory symptoms

• Giving patients practical strategies to adapt and cope

• Including taste and smell outcomes in research and survivorship planning

• Encouraging multidisciplinary collaboration among oncologists, nutritionists, speech pathologists, and sensory experts

At WTSA, we couldn’t agree more.

Our Commitment

The World Taste & Smell Association is working to build bridges across medicine, public health, and design to bring chemosensory issues out of the shadows. We believe this is a public health blindspot—and we’re here to shine a light on it.

We’re developing tools, training modules, and awareness campaigns to help healthcare providers and patients alike navigate life with sensory loss. Because what we sense becomes how we live.

If you’re a clinician, researcher, patient, or caregiver, please drop us a note to join us. Together, we can reimagine sensory care as a pillar of whole-person health.