fenbendazole for humans grew in popularity after Joe Tippens claimed it cured his lung cancer as part of a protocol that included vitamin E and CBD oil. Joe Tippens isn’t alone in claiming that fenbendazole and other supplements cure cancer, but the claims are not true.
The benzimidazole carbamate fenbendazole inhibits microtubule polymerization in cancer cells and blocks glucose uptake, leading to reduced glycogen stores and decreased ATP formation. It also has antiparasitic activity.
Antiparasitic
Fenbendazole is a broad-spectrum benzimidazole carbamate antiparasitic drug that works by binding to tubulin and disrupting microtubule equilibrium in parasite cells. It also inhibits glucose uptake, thereby reducing glycogen stores and decreasing ATP production in the target parasites. This pharmacological action of fenbendazole is effective in treating intestinal helminth parasites and some flukes, including Giardia. It is widely used as a dewormer in dogs and cats and is being investigated as a cancer therapy.
Researchers studied the effects of fenbendazole on two types of human cancer cells. They found that fenbendazole inhibits the uptake of glucose, which is critical for cancer cells’ growth and survival. Additionally, fenbendazole reduces the synthesis of reactive oxygen species and prevents cell cycle progression. This combination of antiparasitic and anticancer effects suggests that fenbendazole can be an effective cancer treatment.
The research was published in the journal PLOS ONE. The study’s authors say the results support previous studies that show fenbendazole has potential as an anticancer agent in combination with other drugs. They note that multi-targeted agents, such as fenbendazole, may have better efficacy than single-target drugs and lessen the likelihood of resistance.
Currently, Health Canada lists fenbendazole for veterinary use only and it has not been approved by the FDA for humans. But researchers are examining animal anthelmintics as possible cancer treatments because of similarities in the behavior of parasitic and tumor cells.
Anticancer
Researchers have discovered that fenbendazole, an antiparasitic drug used in veterinary medicine to treat rodent pinworms, may also be effective in killing cancer cells. The results of the study have been published in Scientific Reports, a peer-reviewed scientific journal. The discovery has been made possible because the drug is widely available in veterinary pharmacies. It is often sold under brand names such as Panacur and Safe-Guard.
The researchers found that fenbendazole inhibited the growth of human non-small-cell lung cancer cell lines in culture. The drug interfered with the cancer cells’ ability to use glucose for energy, which in turn inhibited their growth. It is known that many cancer cells have a high metabolic rate. The researchers also found that fenbendazole caused the death of cancer cells in vitro by interfering with their cell cycle progression.
The scientists then tested the effect of fenbendazole in mice with EMT6 tumors. The mice were injected with three daily doses of fenbendazole or left untreated. The tumors were measured and weighed each week. The results showed that the drug reduced the size of the tumors and increased survival times. The researchers also found that the drug prevented x-ray radiation from causing local metastasis in mice with EMT6 tumors. This is important because recurrent cancer is common in patients who have undergone chemotherapy.
Toxicity
Fenbendazole is a broad-spectrum anthelmintic that is effective against parasites in humans and several other animal species. It also has anti-cancer effects in vitro and in vivo. It inhibits microtubule formation, which is important for cell organization. It is also an inhibitor of cytoplasmic Ca2+-dependent protein kinase and a non-competitive inhibitor of cyclin-dependent kinases. It has also been shown to interfere with glucose uptake, which is essential for cancer cells’ growth.
Studies in mice have found that fenbendazole causes a reduction of tumor volume by a combination of mechanisms. These include the inhibition of tumor cell proliferation, induction of apoptosis, and reduction of glucose uptake. This effect is mediated by the modulation of the activity of the cellular protein phosphatase II.
These findings suggest that fenbendazole can improve the effectiveness of established cancer treatments, such as chemotherapy and radiation therapy. Furthermore, its multi-target pharmacology may prevent drug resistance.
In a recent case report, a patient with Stage 4 lung cancer reported that fenbendazole and other supplements cured her of the disease. Although some patients may benefit from a supplement regimen, there isn’t sufficient evidence that it can cure cancer, and it may actually cause recurrent or metastatic cancer in others. Therefore, physicians should ask patients about their use of dietary supplements and other self-administered medications and make appropriate recommendations.
Side Effects
The development of new drugs takes a lot of time, effort and money. Repurposing veterinary medicines that are showing promising results can significantly reduce the time and cost required to develop them. A dewormer for dogs, fenbendazole, has been shown to be effective in killing cancer cells. It has been shown to suppress the growth of tumors by targeting microtubules, and to interfere with the uptake of glucose by cancer cells. It has also been shown to increase the expression of WT p53 in cancer cells.
In animal studies, fenbendazole has been shown to have an effect on both irradiated and unirradiated human non-small cell lung carcinoma (NSCLC) tumors. It caused a decrease in tumor volume, vascularity, and cell proliferation, and it disrupted the structure of the microtubule network, leading to mitotic arrest and induction of death in the cancer cells.
Despite these findings, fenbendazole has not been approved by the FDA as an anticancer drug. Despite this, it has been used to treat a variety of different conditions by people who have discovered that it has an unusually high cytotoxicity against cancer cells. The most famous of these is Joe Tippens, who used fenbendazole with curcumin and Vitamin E in what became known as the Joe Tippens protocol. Although there is no evidence that this combination will cure a person’s cancer, it is widely believed to be effective at eliminating recurrent cancer and preventing recurrence.