For some patients, all food tastes of metal or their daily cup of tea or coffee becomes a complete turn off.
For others it can be even worse; they find their mouths dry up or ulcers form making eating very painful.
Taste changes
Bitterness is the taste most affected by cancer and its treatment, meaning familiar food and drink often becomes unpalatable.
Taste changes may be due to a number of other factors including damage or desensitisation of taste buds or interference with a patient's sense of smell, which is intricately linked to taste.
And a metallic taste is experienced when chemotherapy drugs get into saliva and the chemicals come into contact with taste buds.
A common side effect patients report is going off tea and coffee.