{"entity":{"id":"cesium-chloride","kind":"technology","name":"Cesium chloride ('high pH therapy')","aka":["Caesium chloride","High pH therapy","Cesium therapy"],"tldr":"Cesium chloride is a salt sold as 'high pH therapy' on the claim that it makes cancer cells too alkaline to survive. There is no evidence for that claim, it causes dangerous heart rhythm problems and low potassium, and the FDA has warned people not to take it.","summary":"Non-radioactive cesium chloride (the radioactive isotope cesium-137 is a different thing, used in radiotherapy) is promoted on the theory that cancer cells take up cesium, become alkaline and stop dividing. Memorial Sloan Kettering's About Herbs summary states there are no data to substantiate these claims and describes a case series of people with terminal cancer using a cesium regimen in which half were alive after a year and a quarter died within the first two weeks, which MSK reads as evidence of serious toxicity. Reported harms in people with cancer include fainting, fast heart rate, prolonged QT interval with ventricular tachycardia, low potassium from urinary potassium loss, seizures and death. Low potassium is made worse by diuretics and corticosteroids. The FDA lists cesium chloride as a bulk drug substance posing significant safety risks in compounding and has warned against dietary supplements containing any cesium salt because of heart toxicity and possible death.","status":"negative","asOf":"2026-11-04","links":[{"label":"MSK About Herbs: Cesium chloride (page last updated 30 June 2022)","url":"https://www.mskcc.org/cancer-care/integrative-medicine/herbs/cesium-chloride"}],"tags":["complementary","supportive-care","evidence:harm"],"related":["kratom","insulin-potentiation-therapy"],"cancers":[],"sections":["supportive-care"],"technologies":["alternative-medicine-instead-of-treatment","integrative-oncology"],"targets":[],"drugs":[],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":["unproven-diet-claims"],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":["b-misinformation"],"keyPapers":[],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"principle":"No anticancer mechanism has been shown; cesium displaces potassium in cells, which is the basis of its cardiac toxicity.","strengths":["None"],"limitations":["No evidence of effect","Heart rhythm disturbances, seizures and deaths","FDA safety warning"]},"route":"/technologies/cesium-chloride/","neighbours":{"technology":[{"id":"alternative-medicine-instead-of-treatment","kind":"technology","name":"Alternative medicine used instead of standard treatment","route":"/technologies/alternative-medicine-instead-of-treatment/"},{"id":"integrative-oncology","kind":"technology","name":"Evidence-based integrative oncology","route":"/technologies/integrative-oncology/"},{"id":"insulin-potentiation-therapy","kind":"technology","name":"Insulin potentiation therapy","route":"/technologies/insulin-potentiation-therapy/"},{"id":"kratom","kind":"technology","name":"Kratom","route":"/technologies/kratom/"}],"section":[{"id":"supportive-care","kind":"section","name":"Supportive Care & Survivorship","route":"/fronts/supportive-care/"}],"term":[{"id":"unproven-diet-claims","kind":"term","name":"Unproven diet claims (alkaline, juice, 'anti-cancer' diets)","route":"/terms/unproven-diet-claims/"}],"bottleneck":[{"id":"b-misinformation","kind":"bottleneck","name":"Misinformation and unproven therapies","route":"/bottlenecks/b-misinformation/"}]}}