Fenbendazole is an antihelmintic medication that can be found in many different over-the-counter medications for treatment of parasitic worms. However, it’s been claimed that fenbendazole can also kill cancer cells in petri dishes and mice. But the claim is false because there’s no evidence that fenbendazole cures cancer in humans. This is because it hasn’t been tested in randomized clinical trials to find out if it’s safe and effective in people.
The claim on social media is based on the anecdotal experience of one person, called Tippens, who claimed that he was in remission from cancer after taking fenbendazole for 6 months. However, the claim was misleading because there are other factors such as conventional cancer treatments that could have contributed to his remission, and there is no proof that fenbendazole actually killed his cancer cells.
Scientists from Panjab University have performed tests to determine whether fenbendazole has a cytotoxic effect on various types of cancer cell lines. They found that both the analytical standard fenbendazole and two commercial powders used as antihelmintic medicines (brand P and brand S) have a cytotoxic effect on human cancer cell lines. They also conducted dissolution studies to simulate the ability of fenbendazole to dissolve in the fluids of the digestive tract and be absorbed into the circulation.
Their results showed that fenbendazole can cause autophagy in cancer cells by inhibiting tubulin polymerization, thereby blocking the progression of the cell cycle from G2 to mitosis and anaphase. It also caused the accumulation of damaged proteins such as cyclin B1 and cyclin-dependent kinase 1 (CDK1) in anaphase, and triggered ferroptosis-augmented apoptosis in 5-fluorouracil-resistant SNU-C5 cells. The authors also report that fenbendazole can be an effective anticancer drug in combination with other therapies.fenbendazole cancer treatment
