Electrical taste detection thresholds and chemical smell detection thresholds in patients with cancer

Article Abstract:

Cancer patients often develop loss of appetite as a consequence of their condition, as well as progressive weight loss. It seems likely that a number of different factors contribute to this important clinical phenomenon. One factor which may play a role is changes in the perception of flavor, and studies have been conducted to evaluate changes in the senses of smell and taste among patients with cancer. However, taste is a particularly difficult sense to measure directly, since the application of one test sample potentially contaminates any test samples thereafter. For this reason, researchers have turned to the electrogustometer for the measurement of taste thresholds. This device is capable of delivering a tiny electrical current to the taste buds on the tongue. When the current reaches some threshold level, the subject experiences a sour taste. This method was used to evaluate taste thresholds in 51 cancer patients suffering lung, ovary, or breast cancer. The results obtained from this patient group were compared with the results from 29 patients suffering from illnesses other than cancer. It was found that the average taste threshold was significantly higher among the cancer patients. This suggests that a significantly stronger taste stimulus may be necessary to stimulate the taste buds of some cancer patients. When the aromatic substance phenyl-methyl-ethyl-carbinol was used to test the sense of smell, no differences were found between the cancer patients and the control patients. The results of this study indicate that the presence of cancer in the body exerts a measurable effect on the sense of taste. Whether this alteration of the sense of taste shares any responsibility for changes in food habits remains to be determined. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Physiological aspects, Cancer, Taste, Taste (Sense), Taste buds, Smell, Sensory thresholds, Chemical senses, Chemoreception

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The role of prostate-specific antigen as part of the diagnostic triad and as a guide when to perform a biopsy

Article Abstract:

The standard method of screening for prostate cancer is the digital rectal examination (DRE), in which the physician feels for abnormal masses in the prostate gland. In recent years, ultrasound imaging has been used in the detection of prostate cancer; the transrectal ultrasound (TRUS) imaging can detect smaller abnormal masses than a physician's finger. Both methods are far from satisfactory; biopsy will reveal actual prostate cancer in only about half of the patients with abnormal results on the screening. Over the last decade, the tumor marker PSA, or prostate-specific antigen, has grown in importance as a diagnostic indicator for prostate cancer. Increased amounts of PSA in the blood strongly suggest that prostate cancer may be present. A comparison of DRE, TRUS, and PSA was conducted in the evaluation of 124 patients undergoing a prostate biopsy. All patients required the biopsy on the basis or an abnormal DRE or TRUS examination. Forty-five percent of the patients were found to have prostate cancer. Only 17.5 percent of the patients with low levels of PSA (less than four nanograms per milliliter) ultimately proved to have cancer. Conversely, 83.3 percent of the patients with PSA levels higher than 20 nanograms per milliliter had cancer. Of the patients with intermediate PSA values, 68.7 percent had cancer. These results indicate that while patients with low PSA levels have lower risks of prostate cancer, the risk is not negligible. However, patients with high levels of PSA have a very high risk of cancer and such patients should invariably undergo prostate biopsy. (Consumer Summary produced by Reliance Medical Information, Inc.)

Evaluation, Diagnosis, Prostate cancer, Tumor antigens, Tumor markers

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