{"status":"ok","message-type":"work","message-version":"1.0.0","message":{"indexed":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,24]],"date-time":"2026-02-24T10:25:40Z","timestamp":1771928740315,"version":"3.50.1"},"reference-count":37,"publisher":"MDPI AG","issue":"4","license":[{"start":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,17]],"date-time":"2026-02-17T00:00:00Z","timestamp":1771286400000},"content-version":"vor","delay-in-days":0,"URL":"https:\/\/creativecommons.org\/licenses\/by\/4.0\/"}],"content-domain":{"domain":[],"crossmark-restriction":false},"short-container-title":["JCM"],"abstract":"<jats:p>Background: Taste disturbances are common after head and neck cancer treatment and can impair nutrition and quality of life. Aim: The aim of this study was to characterise tongue papilla morphology using optical coherence tomography (OCT), apply an ordinal atrophy grading system, and evaluate associations between structural changes and patient-reported taste outcomes. Materials and Methods: A case\u2013control study was conducted including 53 participants: 33 head and neck cancer survivors (radiotherapy, chemotherapy, or combined treatment) and 20 healthy controls. OCT was used to assess papilla height, width, and signal intensity, and a five-point ordinal atrophy scale was applied to fungiform and filiform papillae. Taste outcomes were assessed using the UW-QOL (v4). Interobserver reliability was evaluated using Cohen\u2019s kappa. Results: Cancer patients exhibited significantly reduced papilla height and width compared with controls (fungiform mean difference \u2212350 \u00b5m; filiform \u2212250 \u00b5m; all p &lt; 0.001). Radiotherapy and combined therapy were associated with more severe atrophy than chemotherapy alone. Severe fungiform atrophy was strongly associated with patient-reported taste impact (UW-QOL taste domain; Spearman \u03c1 = 0.80), with up to 90% reporting impairment at the highest atrophy grades. After controlling for age, the association attenuated but remained statistically significant (partial Spearman \u03c1 = 0.39, p = 0.04; regression \u03b2 = 0.14, 95% CI 0.03\u20130.25, p = 0.01), and it was further attenuated after additional adjustment for xerostomia (UW-QOL saliva domain; \u03b2 = 0.09, 95% CI \u22120.02\u20130.20, p = 0.11). Interobserver agreement was substantial. Conclusions: OCT enables non-invasive, high-resolution assessment of tongue papillary atrophy and its cross-sectional association with patient-reported taste impact after head and neck cancer therapy. Findings should be interpreted as associative; age-matched and longitudinal studies incorporating objective taste testing are warranted.<\/jats:p>","DOI":"10.3390\/jcm15041577","type":"journal-article","created":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,17]],"date-time":"2026-02-17T13:15:35Z","timestamp":1771334135000},"page":"1577","update-policy":"https:\/\/doi.org\/10.3390\/mdpi_crossmark_policy","source":"Crossref","is-referenced-by-count":0,"title":["Optical Coherence Tomography Assessment of Tongue Papillary Atrophy and Patient-Reported Impact on Taste Following Head and Neck Cancer Therapy"],"prefix":"10.3390","volume":"15","author":[{"given":"Zaid","family":"Hamdoon","sequence":"first","affiliation":[{"name":"College of Dental Medicine, University of Sharjah, Sharjah 27272, United Arab Emirates"},{"name":"Unit of OMFS, UCL Eastman Dental Institute, London WC1E 6DE, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"ORCID":"https:\/\/orcid.org\/0000-0002-6914-7401","authenticated-orcid":false,"given":"Waseem","family":"Jerjes","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College London, London W12 0BZ, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Dara","family":"Rashed","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of OMFS, UCL Eastman Dental Institute, London WC1E 6DE, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]},{"given":"Colin","family":"Hopper","sequence":"additional","affiliation":[{"name":"Unit of OMFS, UCL Eastman Dental Institute, London WC1E 6DE, UK"}],"role":[{"role":"author","vocabulary":"crossref"}]}],"member":"1968","published-online":{"date-parts":[[2026,2,17]]},"reference":[{"key":"ref_1","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1002\/(SICI)1097-0347(199901)21:1<1::AID-HED1>3.0.CO;2-4","article-title":"Quality of life and oral function following radiotherapy for head and neck cancer","volume":"21","author":"Epstein","year":"1999","journal-title":"Head Neck"},{"key":"ref_2","doi-asserted-by":"crossref","first-page":"1","DOI":"10.1016\/S0360-3016(99)00558-1","article-title":"Toxicity in head and neck cancer: A review of trends and issues","volume":"47","author":"Trotti","year":"2000","journal-title":"Int. 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