The loss of taste can become a serious barrier to adequate nutrition in patients receiving head and neck radiation. In this retrospective study, taste bud bearing oral tongue mucosa was delineated in 691 patients who received RT for HNSCC. Taste impairment was reported by 56.6% at 56 weeks, 27.6% at 6 months, and 19% at 12 months. Unfortunately, mean tongue dose was not associated with taste impairment suggesting a more complex relationship between oral and oropharyngeal dosimetry and taste impairment. | Neh, Radiother Oncol 2025
