Fenbendazole is an antiparasitic drug that has been used to treat parasitic infections in animals and humans for years. It has also been observed to slow cancer cell growth in some studies of cell cultures and mice. However, there isn’t enough evidence from randomized clinical trials to show that fenbendazole cures cancer in humans.
A video circulating on TikTok and Facebook claims that a Canadian veterinarian’s deworming drug for dogs can cure advanced lung cancer. This is untrue. The anecdotal story was circulated by a patient who received information on this treatment through social media and self-administered the drug. The story may have been influenced by other factors that aren’t being taken into account. Furthermore, fenbendazole hasn’t been shown to cure cancer in any other patients.
The benzimidazole compounds, including fenbendazole (methyl N-(6-phenylsulfanyl-1H-benzimidazol-2-yl) carbamate), inhibit tubulin microtubule polymerization and induce cell-cycle arrest by binding to b-tubulin subunits and disrupting their interaction. The effect of fenbendazole on the cell-cycle progression of cancer cells was evaluated by measuring cyclin B1 levels, which is required for progression through G2. Cyclin B1 is released from the mitotic spindle during a G2 checkpoint triggered by anaphase-promoting complex activation. Treatment of A549 cells with 1 uM fenbendazole for different time intervals resulted in an early elevation of cyclin B1 compared to controls, which indicates that the compound prevents cell-cycle progression through G2. This was further confirmed by experiments in which tumor volume was measured in BALB/c mice that were treated with three daily i.p. injections of fenbendazole or a control drug (methyl mebendazole) plus irradiation. Irradiation of the tumors reduced the tumor growth rate, but the growth curve for irradiated EMT6 tumors in the fenbendazole-treated group was indistinguishable from that in the control group.fenbendazole for cancer