Chinese media reporting that baking soda -- or sodium bicarbonate -- can "starve" cancer cells is not a medically rigorous statement, said experts.

Hu Xun, a cancer researcher at the Second Affiliated Hospital of Zhejiang University's School of Medicine, and Chao Ming, a radiology researcher at the same hospital, published their study in the journal eLife in August, saying that a TILA-TACE therapy based on sodium bicarbonate shows promise for liver cancer patients. But it is still in the preliminary stages of research and much more testing is needed, they noted.

Release of the research triggered hot discussion on the Internet after a Chinese report simplified the tentative research saying sodium bicarbonate could starve cancer cells.

"The statement is not correct and has no scientific basis," said Zhang Xiaodong, a senior doctor with Peking University Cancer Hospital, adding that it may mislead people to believe that cancer can be cured by eating baking soda.

Zhang added that sensational headlines used by some media outlets to describe a complex treatment were highly irresponsible.

Chen Minshan, director of the cancer prevention and treatment center at Sun Yat-sen University, also said published research on eLife was based on a small sample of 40 patients and there's still a long way to clinical use.

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