Gustatory disturbances occur in patients with head and neck cancer who undergo radiotherapy not directed to the oral cavity.

Introduction: Even the most modern radiation techniques still result in some degree of toxicity to adjacent normal tissues. Consequently, the radiotherapy treatment in head and neck neoplasms potentially leads to gustatory dysfunction even in cases when the treatment area is outside or adjacent to the oral cavity. In this study we quantitatively and qualitatively assessed gustatory function in patients with head and neck cancers who underwent radiotherapy inside and outside of the oral cavity.