A new Cancer research study in the UK has shown that using MRI scans to check for changes in naturally produced bicarbonate may help identify cancers in the very early stages.

BBC News Reported that bicarbonate plays a role in the body's balancing of acid and alkali. It's known that cancer turns bicarbonate into carbon dioxide. Almost all cancer has a lower pH, which means it's more acidic than surrounding tissue. Currently, there is no way to safely measure pH in patients.

In tests on mice, the researchers boosted MRI sensitivity more than 20,000 times and found they were able to monitor changes in bicarbonate and identify early-stage cancer. The findings were published in the journal Nature.
"This technique could be used as a highly sensitive early warning system for signs of cancer," lead researcher Professor Kevin Brindle said in a prepared statement. "By exploiting the body's natural pH balancing system, we have found a potentially safe way of measuring pH to see what's going on inside patients."

As well as detecting cancer, Brindle said this method could be used to determine if cancer patients are responding to treatment.

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