Abstract:

Objective To explore the characteristics and influencing factors of taste abnormalities in patients with differentiated thyroid cancer （DTC） after ¹³¹I treatment. Methods A total of 206 DTC patients who received ¹³¹I treatment in the First Affiliated Hospital of Nanchang University from August 2023 to December 2023 were followed up for taste abnormalities， dry mouth， and parotid gland swelling. General clinical data including sex， age， and tumor TNM staging were collected. Based on the presence of taste abnormalities， the patients were divided into abnormal taste group and normal taste group. The differences in general data between the two groups were compared， and multiple logistic regression analysis was used to explore the influencing factors of taste abnormalities. Results Totally， 42.23% of the patients experienced taste abnormalities， including 68 patients with varying degrees of reduced taste， 3 patients with a loss of taste， 6 patients with taste sensitivity， 24 patients with taste hallucinations， and 14 patients with both reduced taste and taste hallucinations. The shortest time for the onset of taste abnormalities was 2 days after ¹³¹I treatment， and the longest time was 20 days，with a median time of 7 days； The duration ranged from a minimum of 3 days to a maximum of 60 days， with a median of 14 days. The proportion of dry mouth and parotid gland swelling in patients with abnormal taste was higher than that in those with normal taste， showing statistical significance （P = 0.004， 0.014， respectively）. However， there was no statistical significance in terms of sex age， and tumor TNM stage （P > 0.05）. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that dry mouth and parotid gland swelling were risk factors for taste abnormalities in DTC patients treated with ¹³¹I （P = 0.007， 0.024， respectively）. Conclusion Abnormal taste is a common adverse reaction in DTC patients after ¹³¹I treatment， typically transient， with a median onset time of 7 days post-treatment and a median duration of 14 days. The primary manifestation is reduced taste， with dry mouth and parotid gland swelling identified as risk factors for its occurrence.

Key words: differentiated thyroid cancer, ¹³¹I, abnormal taste perception, influence factor