Researchers have found that zinc sulfate has no significant effect on taste alteration in patients receiving radiation treatment for head and neck cancer, according to a study published in the April issue of the International Journal for Radiation Oncology·Biology· Physics.
Previous studies have suggested that zinc sulfate may help patients regain their sense of taste more quickly after undergoing radiation therapy.
To investigate the palliative efficacy of zinc sulfate, the researchers conducted a multi-institutional, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial.
During the three-year study, the researchers randomly assigned 173 patients to a zinc or placebo group.
Both groups of patients experienced similar degrees of taste alteration as a result of radiation therapy, but the researchers reported no significant difference in taste recovery between the two groups.
Only 6 percent of patients in the zinc-treated group achieved complete taste recovery, compared with 18 percent in the placebo group.
"The results of this study were disappointing in that we hoped that zinc sulfate would help patients maintain their taste based on prior pilot data," said Michele Y. Halyard, MD, lead author of the study and a radiation oncologist, Mayo Clinic, Scottsdale, Ariz.
"However, I am glad that we were able to [definitively] rule out the use of zinc at this dose level so we can further explore other promising treatments to help patients maintain their quality of life during and after treatment," she said.
