by Fenbendazole cancer is a popular topic of conversation on social media, with several posts claiming that this medication can cure certain types of cancer. The claims are based on anecdotal evidence from a man named Joe Tippens, who claimed his cancer went into remission after he started taking the drug, which is normally used to treat parasites and worms (roundworms, hookworms, lungworms, whipworms, and some types of tapeworms) in animals (brand names include Pancur and Safe-Guard). Tippens had also undergone conventional cancer treatments such as surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation. The research on fenbendazole cancer is mixed. Some studies show that the drug can slow cancer cell growth in laboratory tests. However, others have found that the drug does not work against certain types of cancer in humans. In addition, some studies suggest that fenbendazole may cause serious side effects in some people.
Stanford virologist Jeffrey Glenn and his team never set out to tackle cancer, but their efforts to thwart viruses like the ones that cause hepatitis and the common cold have led to a new collaboration—and a drug that appears to be effective against cancer in mice. The drug, fenbendazole, acts by interfering with tubulin, which helps build the microscopic structures that form the microtubule network. The researchers think the benzimidazole carbamates that are in fenbendazole interrupt the microtubule network by causing it to break apart, and they have discovered several mechanisms by which the drug seems to interfere with tumor progression.
In lab experiments, fenbendazole reduced the number of CRC cells that were able to grow in a dish (in vitro) when the cells were treated with the drug for 3 days. The drug also decreased the ability of SNU-C5 and SNU-C5/5-FUR cells to divide. Using flow cytometry, the researchers found that fenbendazole reduced the phosphorylation of -tubulin and reduced the polymerization of tubulin in cells.
Besides blocking the growth of CRC cells, fenbendazole reduced glucose uptake and inhibited the expression of GLUT transporters in the cells. It also reduced hexokinase activity in the cells, which is involved in glycolysis—the breakdown of carbohydrates into pyruvate and oxygen. The drug induced the formation of autophagy, which is an essential process for cellular degradation and turnover, and it also promoted apoptosis in cells.
Other studies have shown that fenbendazole can reduce the growth of human cancers in mice. A study published in 2021, for example, found that mebendazole, another drug that belongs to the benzimidazole family and is similar to fenbendazole, could decrease pancreatic cancer progression in mice. Another study found that a drug that works the same way as fenbendazole—but which has been approved for use in humans during randomized clinical trials—reduced how often cancers implanted into one mouse lung spread to the other lung (in vivo). These findings are encouraging, but they shouldn’t distract people from getting the standard treatment recommended by their doctor. fenbendazole cancer
