Alkalizing Test Measures Tissue Acidity As a Marker For Cancer

A new MRI technique using sodium bicarbonate could detect a cancerous condition before tumor formation or tissue degeneration. This experimental alkalizing test measures tissue acidity and could gauge if medical or natural treatments are actually working.

A new imaging technique that relies on naturally occurring baking soda or sodium bicarbonate in the body could help pinpoint a cancerous condition earlier and quickly gauge if treatments are working, British researchers said on Wednesday.

The non-invasive method uses magnetic resonance imaging to measure changes in alkaline pH -- or acidity --in tissue that is often the hallmark of a cancerous condition and other conditions such as heart dis-ease and strokes, said Kevin Brindle of the University of Cambridge, who led the study.

Currently there are no safe ways to measure tissue pH levels in humans but doing so is important because tumors, for example, are far more acidic than surrounding tissue.

The urine pH is a simple and an inexpensive way to determine the acid/alkaline pH of the body tissues. When the morning urine pH is below 7.2 this indicates tissue acidosis and a potential for a cancerous condition in the body tissues.

"You are imaging not just tissue structure but tissue function," said Brindle, whose study is published in the journal Nature. "We wanted to measure tissue pH, which is a surrogate for dis-ease."

Disease is the expression of an over-acidic body and the causative factor in all symptoms.

"The researchers injected mice with a tagged form of sodium bicarbonate -- an alkali more commonly seen in baking soda -- that occurs naturally in the body and balances acidity of the body," Brindle said.

They used MRI to see how much of the tagged sodium bicarbonate was converted into carbon dioxide within the tumor. In more acidic tumors, more bicarbonate is converted into carbon dioxide.

The body tissues use sodium bicarbonate as a primary buffer to maintain the natural alkaline design of the tissues and to prevent degeneration of that specific tissue.

The researchers measured pH levels using an emerging technique called dynamic nuclear polarization that boosts MRI sensitivity more than 10,000 times.

The method developed by GE's GE Healthcare unit involves cooling down molecules to near absolute zero and then warming them up quickly -- a process that keeps them polarized and easier to detect as an image.

"MRI can pick up on the abnormal acidic pH levels found in cancerous tissues and it is possible that this could be used to pinpoint where the disease is present and when it is responding to treatment," Brindle said.

The next step is testing the technique in humans in early stage clinical trials expected to start in 2009, he added in a telephone interview.

Hyper-alkalization of the body tissues with sodium bicarbonate is the safest and most effective and natural way of reversing ANY cancerous condition.