Is Fenbendazole For Cancer Real?

Fenbendazole is a broad-spectrum antiparasitic drug that is used to treat gastrointestinal parasites, such as pinworms, giardia, roundworms, hookworms, and Taenia solium. It is also an effective and inexpensive treatment for certain pulmonary conditions, such as Paragonimiasis. Recently, posts claiming that fenbendazole cures cancer have gained traction on social media, such as Facebook and TikTok. The nonprofit organization Cancer Research UK told PolitiFact there is insufficient evidence that fenbendazole cures or prevents cancer, as the drug hasn’t gone through clinical trials to determine whether it does so.

The experimental results analyzed here show that fenbendazole does not prevent the growth of colorectal cancer (CRC) tumors in mice. These experiments compared the growth of EMT6 tumors that were untreated or treated with three daily i.p. injections of fenbendazole plus 10 Gy of x-rays. The growth curves for both fenbendazole-alone and fenbendazole plus x-rays were indistinguishable from the control tumor growth curves.

In the same experimental system, fenbendazole reduced the viability of CRC cells through mechanisms that include inhibiting cellular metabolism, inhibiting cell cycle progression, and inducing apoptosis. This effect is mediated by multiple pathways, including p53-dependent and -independent apoptosis, necroptosis, and autophagy.

Severe hypoxia during the treatment period significantly increased fenbendazole toxicity in aerobic cultures. The surviving fractions for cultures exposed to 2-h treatments with fenbendazole in severe hypoxia were significantly lower than those for controls and the yield-corrected surviving fractions were substantially lower for 24-h treatments of the drug, even at concentrations that approach the limit of solubility. Despite this increased toxicity, survival curves superimposed on the dose-response curve for docetaxel showed that the two drugs produced additive toxicities in these cells.fenbendazole for cancer