Systemic Buffers in Cancer Therapy

The incidence of cancer is rising worldwide and so is the need for adequate therapies. Improvements in surgery and chemoradiotherapies as well as novel treatment modalities including targeted therapies and immunotherapies have significantly prolonged survival of cancer patients. Nevertheless, cancer remains a lethal disease, in particular in advanced stages. Based on this perspective, cancer patients frequently turn to alternative medicine, either in the hope of cure or in order to relieve symptoms. Internet provides information on magical remedies, presumably curingcancer, hence encouraging cancer patients to self-medication. In this context, emerging interest is drawn to sodium bicarbonate. Multiple patients’ reports, blogs and physicians’ testimonials praise the anti-tumor activity of sodium bicarbonate on the internet. Different theories were raised to explain its anti-cancer properties. One example is the ability of sodium bicarbonate to buffer tumor acidity and hence block acidity induced tumor growth. 

Despite these frequent reports, clinical data on the role of sodium bicarbonate treatment in cancer is still missing. Nonetheless, emerging experimental data support a beneficial effect of sodium bicarbonate on tumorgrowth, underlining a possible role of sodium bicarbonate in cancer therapy. In this article, we review the rationale of using sodium bicarbonate in cancer by focusing on the effect of tumor acidity on cancer progression. We further highlight the experimental evidence for an anti-cancer efficacy of sodium bicarbonate. Finally, we underline the hurdles in using sodium bicarbonate in cancer patients.