Fenben is an animal anthelmintic which is used to treat roundworms, hookworms, whipworms and some tapeworms. It is also sold as a dog deworming medicine under the brand names Pancur and Safe-Guard. The drug has no approved use for humans. However, an unlicensed veterinarian’s videos, which tout fenben as a cure for cancer, have become popular on Facebook and TikTok. In the videos, a man named Joe Tippens claims that taking fenben for two months caused his cancer to go into remission.
Tippens’s story has become an internet sensation and was featured in several news articles. However, he’s not the only person to claim that fenben is effective against cancer. The claim has been bolstered by limited lab research which shows that fenben can kill cancer cells in petri dishes. This research is often misinterpreted by people who are eager to believe that there’s a “natural” treatment for their disease.
A recent scientific paper published in Nature revealed that fenbendazole and other drugs in the benzimidazole family have potent anti-cancer properties. The article suggests that fenbendazole is able to interact with a specific location on tubulin and disrupt the cellular synthesis of proteins, including those required for cell growth. Additionally, fenbendazole is thought to inhibit glucose uptake by cancer cells, which leads to a loss of energy and death.
These effects were demonstrated using a rigorous colony formation assay. The results show that fenbendazole significantly reduced the number of colonies formed by EMT6 tumor cells. These effects were strengthened by adding severe hypoxia to the culture during treatment. Furthermore, fenbendazole had cytotoxic effects at high concentrations, even when administered for short periods of time.
Another study conducted by the same researchers involved a mouse model with EMT6 tumors. Tumor-bearing mice were randomized to either control or treatment groups. Treatment groups were given three daily i.p. injections of fenbendazole or a combination of the drug with 10 Gy of x-ray radiation. The results showed that fenbendazole slowed the growth of the tumors but did not prevent them from growing when combined with radiation.
While the results of these studies suggest that fenbendazole can help combat certain types of cancers, it’s important to note that these effects are only seen at very high concentrations and for short exposure times. Further, there is no clinical evidence that fenbendazole can be used as a stand-alone therapy for cancer. Instead, the findings suggest that fenbendazole may be used to enhance existing chemotherapeutic strategies such as radiation, surgery, berberine and sodium dichloroacetate (DCA). Further research will be necessary to determine how best to combine this drug with other cancer fighting agents. fenben for humans