Fenbendazole, a benzimidazole anthelmintic drug used to treat rodent pinworms, has become an alternative cancer treatment after Joe Tippens claimed it cured his terminal lung cancer. While several peer-reviewed studies have examined the claim, it’s unclear how much of Tippens’ success can be attributed to fenbendazole.
Developing new drugs takes time and money, but repurposing veterinary medicines that show promising results for human use can cut down the development process considerably. Fenbendazole stabilizes WT p53, provides moderate microtubule disruption, and interferes with glucose uptake by cancer cells.
Toxicity
Fenbendazole is a widely used broad-spectrum antiparasitic drug. Scientists at the National Centre for Human Genome Studies and Research (NCHGSR) at Panjab University have found that it may also be effective against cancers. According to the researchers, fenbendazole can inhibit tumor growth in mice by disrupting microtubules. It can also block the synthesis of glucose, which is an energy source for cancer cells.
The researchers published their findings in the journal Scientific Reports. The study analyzed the effects of fenbendazole on EMT6 tumors in BALB/c mice. The scientists injected the mice with EMT6 tumors and measured their volume three times per week. They found that fenbendazole significantly reduced tumor size. It did not, however, reduce the amount of glucose taken up by the tumors.
In addition to its cytotoxic effect, fenbendazole can also cause cell cycle arrest. It does this by inhibiting cyclin D1 activity and blocking the formation of nuclear spindles. It also interferes with the process of mitosis, which is necessary for cell division. In the case of cancer, this may be a good thing, as it can help prevent uncontrolled cell growth.
However, experts caution that it’s still too early to say whether fenbendazole can cure cancer in humans. It’s important to remember that most of the drugs we use as treatments have gone through extensive clinical trials to ensure they are safe and effective. A specialist cancer information nurse told Full Fact that there is no evidence fenbendazole can cure tumors in humans.
Tolerance
Fenbendazole is a drug used to treat parasites and worms in animals. It was repurposed by Gregory Riggins and Gary Gallia to cure glioblastoma, an aggressive brain tumor. The repurposing of veterinary drugs is a common strategy to reduce the time and cost associated with developing new medications. Several research papers have observed that fenbendazole can slow cancer cell growth in laboratory culture.
In some experiments, fenbendazole interrupts the growth of cancer cells by disrupting microtubules. It also interferes with the ability of cancer cells to metabolize sugar. The resulting cellular deficits can cause them to die or become resistant to other therapies. This effect is mediated by the stabilization of p53, a gene that regulates cell division and prevents mutations.
Although many research studies have shown that fenbendazole can suppress cancer cell growth in laboratory cultures and animal models, there is no evidence that it can cure human cancer. The Joe Tippens protocol may not be an effective treatment for cancer, and it is important to follow the advice of your health care provider. People should never take a medication without a doctor’s prescription, and they should always disclose their diagnosis to their doctors. The University of Wisconsin-Madison Carbone Cancer Center warned that research on fenbendazole has produced “intriguing preliminary data” but doesn’t prove that it can cure cancer.
Mechanism of action
The anthelmintic drug fenbendazole, also known as mebendazole, has a long history of safe use in humans. It is used to treat parasitic worms and has been shown to have anti-cancer properties in mice and cancer cells grown in a lab (in vitro). However, there is not much support for this claim.
One of the reasons for this lack of support is that researchers are not sure how fenbendazole kills cancer. They know that it works in the lab by interfering with the formation of microtubules. These are a protein scaffolding that gives cells their shape and structure. The drug is also known to interfere with glucose uptake by cancer cells, which deprives them of energy and triggers cell death.
Scientists first tested the drug on human non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) cells. They found that fenbendazole caused partial alteration of the microtubule network, but did not affect normal cells. The same effect was observed when the drug was added to a culture of human NSCLC cancer cells that had a mutation in the RAS-related gene.
Researchers also performed an experiment in which they implanted human NSCLC cells into athymic BALB/c mice and treated them with fenbendazole. They measured tumor size and weight and found a significant reduction in both. The drug also reduced cellular proliferation in the mice and prevented the formation of metastases. These results are consistent with those from the in vitro experiments.
Safety
The FDA says it’s not enough evidence to support claims that fenbendazole cures cancer. The agency says more study is needed and that people should not take it to treat their cancer unless they’re participating in a clinical trial. People should also let their health care team know if they’re taking the drug.
The anthelmintic drug, which has been around for decades to treat parasites in animals, is well tolerated and has a large safety margin in most species. It also has multiple targets in the cell, making it a good candidate for anticancer therapy. The drug inhibits cell growth by targeting the formation of microtubules, which form a protein scaffold that gives cells shape and structure.
Textbook depictions of cells often show various cellular components floating in amorphous bags of liquid, but they establish their shapes and structures through the cytoskeleton, which is made up of the protein tubulin. Drugs that disrupt the formation of microtubules can affect important cellular processes, including cell division and mitosis.
A veterinarian in British Columbia named Andrew Jones posted videos on TikTok and Facebook in 2019 that promoted a deworming medicine as a cure for cancer. He resigned from the College of Veterinarians of British Columbia after he was reprimanded for promoting alternative medicines. TikTok and Facebook have since removed his posts. fenbendazole for humans cancer