Fenbendazole is a broad-spectrum animal dewormer that belongs to the benzimidazole carbamate family. It is highly effective against a wide variety of parasitic infections and has been in widespread use for nearly six decades. It has never been shown to cure cancer, however. Singh and other scientists are trying to change that.
Antiparasitic
While fenbendazole is currently approved for use in livestock, it may have potential as an antiparasitic drug that kills cancer cells. Researchers have discovered that the drug inhibits the growth of pancreatic cancer in mice by targeting the same mechanism that it uses to fight parasites. Mebendazole works by cutting off the supply of nutrients to parasites by collapsing tubulin, a protein that is both part of the parasite’s micro-skeleton and a highway for transport.
Researchers compared the effect of three daily fenbendazole injections (50 mg/kg/day) to three injections of saline on tumor growth and radiation response in BALB/cRw mice. The mice were randomized when tumor volume reached a stratification point and then treated for the indicated periods. Tumor growth and radiation response were determined by measuring the time required for each tumor to grow from its initial volume to four-fold its volume.
The benzimidazole family of drugs is broad-spectrum and has been successfully used in many animal species. Repurposing veterinary drugs that show promising results for human use could save valuable time and resources in developing new anticancer agents.
Anti-cancer
Fenbendazole is a drug used to treat parasitic infections in animals, including roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, and some tapeworms. It is often taken by mouth, in the form of oral granules or a liquid suspension. It works by interfering with the formation of microtubules, a protein scaffold that gives cells their shape and structure. Textbook depictions of cells commonly show amorphous bags of liquid, but the cytoskeleton creates their shape and provides a highway for transporting various organelles and cargo within.
Posts on social media have claimed that the dog deworming drug fenbendazole can cure cancer, based on an anecdotal account of Joe Tippens, a man who claims to have recovered from lung cancer by taking fenbendazole. These claims have received widespread attention in South Korea, where fenbendazole is sold as an anti-cancer treatment.
A research team led by Gregory Riggins, a neurosurgeon at John Hopkins University School of Medicine, found that mebendazole reduced the size of pancreatic cancer tumors in mice genetically engineered to develop the disease. The drug works by inhibiting the formation of tubulin, which forms part of a tumor cell’s micro-skeleton and acts as a highway for transporting nutrients.
Immunosuppressant
Benzimidazole drugs have been shown to bind beta-tubulin and disrupt microtubules. They also block cell cycle progression and induce apoptosis. These effects can be enhanced by the addition of taxanes, which inhibit cellular respiration and increase the concentration of intracellular ATP. In the present study, fenbendazole significantly reduced the viability of aerobic EMT6 cells in 24-h incubations, using a rigorous colony formation assay. The clonogenicity of these cells was also decreased, suggesting that fenbendazole has cytotoxic as well as cytostatic effects.
Previously, we demonstrated that fenbendazole has anti-cancer and radioprotective effects in colorectal cancer (CRC) cells. However, the mechanisms of these effects are unknown. In this study, we examined the effect of fenbendazole on 5-FU-sensitive SNU-C5 and SNU-C5/5-FUR CRC cells. We found that fenbendazole caused G2/M arrest and apoptosis in both tumor cells and increased the expression of wild-type p53, but decreased mutant p53 expression. Additionally, fenbendazole induced ferroptosis in SNU-C5 cells through the decrease of glutathione peroxidase 4 expression.
Antibiotic
Fenbendazole is a broad-spectrum antiparasitic drug used to treat parasitic worms in various animals. It works by binding to the b-tubulin microtubule subunits and inhibiting their polymerization. It is also known to have antitumor activity. This effect may be due to its ability to interfere with cell division and mitosis.
Researchers found that fenbendazole, which is also known as mebendazole, could slow or stop the growth of pancreatic cancer tumors in mice models. The findings were published in the journal Oncotarget on July 6. The experiments involved a mouse model with early-stage and late-stage pancreatic cancer. The researchers tested the effects of different doses of mebendazole on the tumors. Tumor volume was measured three times a week until they reached a certain size. The tumors were then randomly assigned to groups that received varying doses of mebendazole. The time it took for the tumors to grow from their initial volume to four-times that volume was carefully compared between the groups.fenbendazole for cancer
