The antiparasitic drug fenbendazole has been shown to slow cancer cell growth in studies in cells and animals. But there isn’t sufficient evidence from randomized clinical trials to support claims that it can cure cancer in people.
In a series of social media posts (Facebook and TikTok) that received millions of views, Joe Tippens claimed that fenbendazole, an anti-helminthic medication used to treat parasitic worms in dogs, cured him of cancer, which he had been diagnosed with in 2016. Tippens says his remission was due to the combination of fenbendazole, a number of supplements, and conventional cancer treatments.
Our research shows that fenbendazole has no cytostatic effect on EMT6 tumors in mice, whether ingested as part of an antihelminthic diet or administered by three daily i.p. injections. To make these conclusions, we rigorously compared the time it took for each tumor to grow from its initial volume at stratification to four times that volume and found no difference in this time between mice that had received fenbendazole or not. We also analyzed the effects of irradiation on these tumors and found that either fenbendazole or x-rays did not alter the growth of unirradiated or irradiated tumors.
Mebendazole is a drug that was originally developed to fight roundworm, hookworm and whipworm infections by cutting off the parasite’s supply of nutrition. It works by inhibiting the formation of tubulin, a structure that serves as both a microscopic skeleton for the inside of the cell and a highway for transport. Our study suggests that a similar mechanism may be responsible for mebendazole’s observed toxicity in pancreatic cancer. fenbendazole cancer