Fenbendazole, a drug used to treat parasites and worms in animals, has been shown to be effective in killing cancer cells. This medication is typically well-tolerated by humans and has few side effects.
A viral video from an unlicensed veterinarian touting a dog deworming drug as a cure for lung cancer has received attention worldwide on Facebook and TikTok. But the claim is not true.
Safety
The anthelminthic drug fenbendazole (methyl N-(6-phenylsulfanyl-1H-benzimidazol-2-yl) carbamate) is used to treat parasitic worms in many animal species, including giardia, roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, pinworms, and one type of tapeworm, the Taenia genus. It also has anticancer properties and is currently being investigated in cancer patients. The repurposing of veterinary drugs that show promising results for human use can reduce the time and expense required to develop new drugs.
The TikTok and Facebook posts highlight a case of a cancer patient who claims that taking fenbendazole has cured him of his small-cell lung cancer. But the post is not backed by scientific evidence and has not been verified by the medical community. The claims in the video have been debunked by Sheila Singh, a specialist cancer information nurse with Cancer Research UK. She says that the medication has not gone through any clinical trials and that it doesn’t work for everyone.
However, a number of experiments have shown that fenbendazole is effective in treating hypoxic cancer cells. The drug stabilizes WT p53, provides moderate microtubule disruption, and interferes with the glucose metabolism of cancer cells. These effects lead to preferential elimination of cancer cells in vivo and in vitro. The drugs are also known to be safe and well-tolerated by animals, so they could be used in humans. These findings are encouraging, but further study is needed before the drug can be considered a treatment for cancer.
Efficacy
The anti-parasitic drug fenbendazole, which is used to treat parasitic worms in animals, may have the potential to kill cancer cells. Scientists have found that the drug can prevent microtubules from forming properly in cancer cells. Microtubules are the structures that give shape to all cells in living things. These structures help chromosomes move around the body and provide cell structure. Researchers are currently evaluating whether the drug can be used to fight cancer in humans. It is important to note that the research is still at an early stage, and there is no evidence that fenbendazole will cure cancer.
However, the results of the study suggest that fenbendazole may have multiple effects on cancer. In the first experiment, a group of mice with EMT6 tumors received three daily i.p. injections of fenbendazole and were irradiated at 10 Gy. The growth curves of the irradiated tumors were indistinguishable from those of untreated tumors (Figure 3).
A second experiment examined the effect of fenbendazole on the proliferation of C. neoformans in infected macrophages. The results showed that fenbendazole inhibited the ability of the fungal cells to proliferate and to form spores in vitro. In addition, it induced an increase in apoptosis by the activation of the p21 pathway. These findings support the hypothesis that fenbendazole has multiple antifungal activities.
Dosage
Fenbendazole is an oral benzimidazole that has a wide spectrum of anthelmintic effects. It is used to treat various gastrointestinal parasites in dogs, cats, sheep, horses, and cattle. It is also effective against pulmonary paragonimiasis. It works by inhibiting the polymerization of tubulin, which forms microtubules that provide structure to cells. In addition, it has cytotoxic and anti-proliferative effects on tumor cells.
In previous experiments, we have shown that fenbendazole significantly reduces the growth of EMT6 tumors when given at high doses to mice. However, the results of these studies were limited by the small number of animals studied. Therefore, we decided to conduct additional research in order to examine the effect of fenbendazole at lower dosages.
We conducted three i.p. injections of fenbendazole in BALB/cRw mice with established EMT6 tumors. The mice were then irradiated with 10 Gy of X-rays. The tumors were then analyzed by necropsy and compared to unirradiated controls. Fenbendazole significantly reduced the rate of tumor growth and accelerated the radiation response of EMT6 cells. However, the number of spontaneous lung metastases seen on necropsy was not different between the groups.
Despite these promising findings, it is important to remember that fenbendazole is an anti-worm drug and does not work as a cancer treatment in humans. Health Canada lists it as a veterinary medicine, and no peer-reviewed study has found evidence that it could cure cancer in humans.
Side effects
Fenbendazole is a broad-spectrum anthelmintic that kills worms in mammals and birds. It is also used to treat parasites in reptiles and fish tanks. It is a powerful parasitic control agent and can be given orally to humans, dogs, cats, horses, cattle, sheep, rabbits, ferrets, fish and freshwater shrimp. It is effective against giardiasis, roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, the tapeworm genus Taenia (but not Dipylidium caninum), pinworms and Aelurostrongylus. It is also known to inhibit the growth of tumors.
In a mouse EMT6 xenograft model, fenbendazole significantly reduced tumor growth and prolonged survival. This result was independent of tumor size or irradiation. Moreover, a fenbendazole dose-response curve showed that the drug was not toxic at therapeutic levels and did not interfere with the radiosensitivity of cancer cells. In addition, the growth of irradiated tumors was not impaired by three daily fenbendazole treatments.
Scientists are investigating whether antiparasitic drugs could be repurposed as cancer treatments in humans. These medications, called anthelmintics, work by disrupting the microtubules that provide structure to cells. Cancer cells have many microtubules, and targeting them is a standard approach to approved cancer therapies. fenbendazole for humans
