HI All

I probably need to clarify my last post on this thread.

I did not intend for it to sound like chemotherapy is the main culprit for taste/smell dysfunction, just that it should not be discounted.

Almost everyone who undergoes radiation complains of taste and smell disturbances to some degree and this is a known side effect of radiation and one that is discussed on this forum often. I suspect the magnitude of the effect is dependent on where the radiation is aimed and how large an area is "nuked".

Alex started suffering taste and smell disturbances, thick and ropey saliva, dry mouth and ulcers BEFORE any radiation and during his induction chemotherapy. However, induction chemotherapy is not the same as chemo-radiation which is when a chemotherapy agent is used in conjunction with radiation to assist the effect of radiation.

The side effects and mechanisms I attempted to elucidate in the previous post was as a result of my research into the effect of chemotherapy as a course of treatment (ie 2 or 3 chemotherapy agents used together over a number of weeks/months), and may not apply to chemoradiation which is the application of 1 chemo drug (sometimes 2) to give the radiation a "boost". In this instance it would be difficult to tell if it was the chemo, radiation, or the combination of both that was causing the side effects.