A descriptive study of learned food aversions in radiotherapy patients

While animal studies have documented the efficacy of ionizing radiation as a conditioning stimulus for food aversion learning, little is known about the incidence or nature of aversions that form in cancer patients administered radiation therapy. Forty-nine newly diagnosed patients with a variety of cancer types were monitored for the duration of their treatment or up to six months. Aversions were identified by questionnaires and responses to an experimental food administered at stipulated time points. Fifty-nine percent of patients formed new aversions after initiating treatment and for 53% of patients, this involved items in their customary diet. A wide array of items were targeted, but there was direct relationship between exposure frequency and aversion formation. The aversions were highly specific (median = 2.5 items/afflicted patient). The onset time was approximately 1-2 weeks, and they were transient, generally lasting 1-3 weeks. There was no evidence of a discrepant incidence among patients treated in different sites. Aversion incidence was not significantly associated with age, gender or other selected patient characteristics.