Sodium bicarbonate, an inorganic salt and a potential active agent for cancer therapy

Cancer is a serious threat to humans due to its high mortality. The efforts to fully understand cancer and to fight against it have never been stopped. The traditional therapies, such as surgery, radiotherapy and chemotherapy, are useful but cannot meet the increasing demands of patients. As such, novel approaches against cancer are urgently required. It has been found that the acidic tumor microenvironment plays important roles in promoting the cancer progression. In recent years, sodium bicarbonate(NaHCO_(3)), a simple inorganic salt, has been found to be able to reverse the p H of tumor microenvironment and inhibit the invasion, metastasis, immune evasion, drug resistance and hypoxia of tumor cells. Thus, NaHCO_(3)-based therapy is a potential approach for the treatment of cancer, and the related studies have been increasingly reported. Herein, we aim to provide a comprehensive understanding of the acidic tumor microenvironment and summarize the applications and mechanisms of Na HCO_(3)in cancer therapy. The combination of Na HCO;with chemotherapy, immunotherapy or nanoparticles systems is discussed. In addition, the concerns of Na HCO_(3)in clinical use and the potential ways to use Na HCO_(3)for cancer therapy are also discussed.