Abstract: Objective: To investigate the chemotherapy-induced taste alterations and analyze its influencing factors in breast cancer patients. Methods: A cross-sectional study was adopted. From April to May 2019, the general information questionnaire and the Chemotherapy-induced Taste Alteration Scale (CiTAS) was used to investigate 202 breast cancer chemotherapy patients in 6 tertiary grade A hospitals in Beijing through purposive sampling. Results: The total score of CiTAS was 4.00-14.07, the median score was 5.70, and 82.2% patients suffered from taste alteration. The scores of CiTAS differed among patients with different chemotherapy regimens (P<0.05). More than 80.0% of patients indicated that the taste changes appeared in the first course of treatment and could be basically recovered before the start of the next course. Xerostomia, tongue coating changes, oral ulcers and nausea were influencing factors of taste alterations. Conclusion: The taste alterations of breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy are affected by multiple factors. Medical staff can provide targeted and effective interventions to improve taste alterations based on the chemotherapy regimen, the symptoms and time characteristics of chemotherapy-induced taste alteration, and the accompanying symptoms during chemotherapy.

Key words: breast cancer; chemotherapy; taste alterations; influencing factors