Treatment of taste alterations in chemotherapy patients using the “miracle fruit”: Preliminary analysis of a pilot study.

Soares, Heloisa P.; Cusnir, Mike; Schwartz, Morton A.; Pizzolato, Joseph F.; Lutzky, Jose; Campbell, R. J.; Beaumont, Jennifer L.; Eton, Darwin; Stonick, S.; Lilenbaum, Rogerio

doi:10.1200/jco.2010.28.15_suppl.e19523

Cited by 17 publications

(23 citation statements)

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“…10,15 The clinical benefits of the taste-modifying effect of miracle fruits have been studied in two fields, including the management of changes in taste perception in cancer patients who undergo chemotherapy as well as reducing the calorie intake of obese subjects in a low-calorie diet. 19,25,26 It was shown that the miracle fruit could improve the palatability of foods in Reduced insulin resistance in rats fed with fructose-rich chow cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy, although no changes in weight were observed. 25,26 These studies were small (4-12 subjects) and performed for a short duration (2 weeks) and therefore their results may not be strong enough to draw a conclusion.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

The Clinical Effects ofSynsepalum dulcificum: A Review

Swamy

Hadi²,

Muniandy³

et al. 2014

Journal of Medicinal Food

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Synsepalum dulcificum or the "miracle fruit" is well known for its taste-modifying ability. The aim of this review was to assess the published medically beneficial as well as potential characteristics of this fruit. A search in three databases, including PubMed, ScienceDirect, and Google Scholar, was made with appropriate keywords. The resulting articles were screened in different stages based on the title, abstract, and content. A total of nine articles were included in this review. This review summarized the findings of previously published studies on the effects of miracle fruit. The main studied characteristic of the fruit was its effect on the taste receptors, resulting in the sweet sensation when substances with acidic content were ingested. This effect was shown to be related to a glycoprotein called "miraculin." Other beneficial characteristics of this fruit were its antioxidant and anticancer abilities that are due to the various amides existing in the miracle fruit. Apart from the above, the other observed effect of this fruit was its antidiabetic effect that was tested in rats. Further studies should be conducted to establish the findings. The miracle fruit can be a healthy additive due to its unique characteristics, including sour taste sensation modification as well as its antioxidant and antidiabetic effects.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

The Clinical Effects ofSynsepalum dulcificum: A Review

Swamy

Hadi²,

Muniandy³

et al. 2014

Journal of Medicinal Food

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“…Out of the 12 reviewed papers half of them were randomized control trials, [3,20,[26][27][28][29] with four of them double blinded, placebo control. [3,20,26,27] Two studies were cross sectional studies, [30,31] and there were three prospective longitudinal studies, [32][33][34] one was a case study, [34] and another one quasi experimental study. [35] Sample size ranged from two to 531, with commonest diagnosis of head and neck cancer followed by breast cancer, lung cancer, gastrointestinal (GI) cancer, and a wide range of other cancer diagnosis.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Seven out to 12 studies used previously studied, validated standardized tool to find out the taste change and improvement; four of them used objective, close ended questions to find out the improvement with a given treatment or strategy. Most of the studies included patients with chemotherapy, [20,26,[30][31][32][33][34][35] some of the studies were confined to radiotherapy, [3,24,28] and a few studied the patients receiving a combination of treatment. [29] Amongst these, the most common chemotherapeutic agent was carboplatin and oxyplatin but, most of them used various chemotherapeutic agents.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[32,33] The entire participant reported positive change in taste with miracle fruit, however it was a subjective judgment as patient said that the metallic taste disappeared and improved taste. The generality of the study remains questionable as the author did not disclose the method of assessing taste change and the sample size was too small, the author has conducted the study systematically and captured the qualitative aspect.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Since the author was expecting for a larger confirmatory trial it might be wisdom to cautiously think on the result of the upcoming trial. [32] Some drugs like glutamine and amifostine have been examined to prevent and treat dysgeusia, but they did not exhibit positive results. [26,29] The study by Strasser et al suggested no benefits from glutamine on taste change; however, the study was well designed with subjective and objective record of taste change.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Management of Dysgeusia related to Cancer

Munankarmi

2017

J Lumbini Med Coll

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a ----------------------------------------------- ABSTRACT:Introduction: Taste change due to cancer is a notorious side effect, adversely affecting appetite and weight. Even though taste change or dysgeusia is one of the major causes of poor nutritional status in cancer survivors, it is not addressed as a significant problem and is often left untreated. The main purpose of this review is to explore current knowledge of pharmacological and behavioral interventions for the treatment of cancer related taste change. Methods: This systematic review was conducted in accordance with PRISMA guidelines to identify original articles on taste change. Multiple databases including; Scopus, Medline, EMBASE, CINAHL, and all databases via Pro quest were searched for original articles or studies related to taste change caused by cancer or its treatment. Relevant articles were subjected to a full text evaluation and assessed by Critical appraisal skills program (CASP) guidelines and the Effective public health practice project (EPHPP) instrument. Results: The search revealed 12 eligible studies, six of which were randomized controlled trials. Most of the studies used a standardized validated tool to measure taste change. Dysgeusia is common in cancer, 14 to 100% cancer patient report it. Pharmacological management with zinc remains inconclusive as one study reports it as beneficial and two other studies reported null effect. Few studies suggested dietary modifications such as use of sugary, salty foods that are helpful to reduce the effect of dysgeusia. Conclusion: Dietary counseling and informing the patient well about self-care strategies before treatment has consistently shown positive results on taste change, with strong statistical power. Other potential treatments for dysgeusia such as zinc, amifostine, and megestrol acetate gave inconsistent results.

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