Saturday Bov 10, 2016 (foodconsumer.org) -- A study released in 2016 in Oncology Letters indicates that potassium bicarbonate may boost the anticancer effect of ascorbic acid against breast cancer.

Ascorbic acid is known to have a therapeutic effect against cancers like breast cancer when the agent is used at a high dose, preferably administered through IV injection.  It is a fact that chemotherapy renders a greater anticancer effect when ascorbic acid is also used.

Potassium is a regulator of cellular proliferation.   And this mineral is found low in cancer cells compared to healthy cells.  This suggests that potassium may pay a role in the cancer pathophysiology.

The current study examines the anticancer effect of ascorbic acid alone and in combination with potassium bicarbonate against cancer cells in breast cancer cell cultures.

The study shows that different breast cancer cell lines respond differently to the treatment with potassium bicarbonate or potassium bicarbonate plus ascorbic acid.  The best efficacy can be achieved with both treatments.

In the breast cancer cell line MCF-7, the combination of potassium plus ascorbic acid results in a greater multitude of apoptosis, which helps kill cancer cells.

Potassium, ascorbic acid and the combo all inhibit the expression of nuclear factor-kB or NF-kB, which prevents cancer cells from being killed by the process called apoptosis.  

The study concludes that use of potassium bicarbonate can potentiate the anticancer effect of ascorbic acid against breast cancer cells in vitro.

More studies are needed to see if the anticancer effect resulting from the combination of potassium and ascorbic acid can sustain in vivo or animals to treat breast cancer.

According to the study report, calcium and zinc are also low in cancer cells.  Does that mean high intake of zinc and calcium may also help fight breast cancer? (David Liu)

Giovanni Vanni Frajese Monica Benvenuto Massimo Fantini Elena Ambrosin Pamela Sacchetti Laura Masuelli Maria Gabriella Giganti Andrea Modesti Roberto Bei, Potassium increases the antitumor effects of ascorbic acid in breast cancer cell lines in vitro, Published online on: Wednesday, April 27, 2016, Pages: 4224-4234 DOI: 10.3892/ol.2016.4506