Is Fenbendazole Safe For Humans

A popular cancer treatment protocol involving the use of dog deworming medicine has gained traction after TikTok videos featuring Joe Tippens went viral. He credits fenbendazole (commonly known as Panacur) with his survival from stage 4 small-cell lung cancer.

The anthelmintic benzimidazole carbamate drug FZ, used in veterinary medicine to treat parasitic worms (ascarids, hookworms, whipworms, and one species of tapeworm) in humans and animals. Molecularly, it inhibits cell growth through moderate microtubule disruption and p53 stabilization.

Antihelminthic

The anthelmintic fenbendazole (FZ) is an effective treatment for intestinal parasites and some tapeworms. It belongs to the benzimidazole carbamate group and inhibits the growth of helminths by binding to tubulin and interfering with the polymerization process of microtubules. It also interferes with the energy metabolism of nematodes.

FZ was found to exhibit antitumor properties in vivo in mouse mammary tumor cells, with minimal toxicity in normal mice. It also showed additive cytotoxic effects when combined with hypoxia-selective nitroheterocyclic cytotoxins and radiosensitizers.

Several anecdotal reports suggest that taking anthelmintic drugs such as fenbendazole can cure cancer in some patients. The Joe Tippens protocol is one example of this. However, no peer-reviewed studies have found evidence that this drug can cure cancer. Moreover, the medication is not safe to use long-term.

Anticancer

Fenbendazole is a drug used to deworm animals, but research has shown that it has anticancer properties. These properties include inhibiting the growth of cancer cells and inducing apoptosis. The drug interferes with the formation of microtubules, which are essential for cell division and other important cellular processes.

These microtubules are made of a protein called tubulin. When fenbendazole interacts with the protein, it disrupts its structure and causes it to depolymerize. This effect is similar to that caused by a number of widely used anticancer drugs, including vinblastine and vincristine.

Fenbendazole also interferes with glucose metabolism in cancer cells, which makes it harder for them to survive and spread. The drug could help boost the effectiveness of radiation treatment, surgery, berberine, sodium dichloroacetate (DCA), and other chemotherapy methods in treating cancer.

Antiparasitic

Fenbendazole, like its benzimidazole cousins mebendazole and albendazole, is used to treat parasitic diseases and worms in animals. But research published in Scientific Reports suggests it may also be an anti-cancer drug. It interferes with microtubule activity, which is essential for cell division during mitosis. During this process, chromosomes are lined up and divided evenly. Drugs that inhibit the formation of these microtubules can stop cancer cells from dividing and killing themselves.

This method of repurposing drugs is called repurposing, and it has become a popular strategy in the pharmaceutical industry. The pharmacodynamics, pharmacokinetics, and toxicity profiles of antiparasitic drugs are well known, making them suitable candidates for repurposing as anti-cancer agents. This can help to speed up the development of new cancer treatments.

Immunomodulatory

Many antiparasitics have immunomodulatory properties (immunosuppression or activation) which boost immune response against bacterial infections including brucellosis, salmonellosis and paratuberculosis, viral infections including herpes, foot and mouth diseases and parasitic infections such as onchocerciasis and schistosomiasis. These drugs can also inhibit the proliferation of cancer cells.

Fenbendazole has been shown to inhibit the growth of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) cell lines. It does this by disrupting microtubules that form the cytoskeleton of cells and inhibits their assembly.

It was also found that fenbendazole induces differentiation of HL60 leukaemia cells to granulocytes and causes cellular death. This was confirmed by NBT reduction assays and confocal microscopy. The mode of action was identified on both a systems level via induced gene expression changes and on a protein level by identifying the predicted targets in CMap using a bioinformatics tool.

Antiviral

Fenbendazole is an antihelminthic drug with potential antiviral properties. Its ability to inhibit cryptococcal growth in cell cultures and its synergistic effects with amphotericin B have led researchers to explore its potential for treating Cryptococcus infections.

In this study, MDBK cells were treated with fenbendazole in the presence or absence of DMSO and then infected with BoHV-1 at a MOI of 1. At 2 and 4 h post-infection, RNA was extracted using TRIzol LS Reagent. Expression of the viral tegument protein VP16 was assessed.

It was found that fenbendazole significantly inhibited BoHV-1 productive infection in MDBK cells. However, it did not affect the phosphorylation of either PLC-g1 or Akt, which are stimulated by a BoHV-1 infection to facilitate virus-productive infection in MDBK cells. This suggests that the inhibitory effect of fenbendazole on BoHV-1 infection does not depend on its effect on cellular signaling.

Antifungal

Fenbendazole is a benzimidazole and broad-spectrum anthelmintic that can be used to treat various parasitic infections in animals. It is FDA approved for removal of Haemonchus contortus and arrested fourth-stage forms of Ostertagia ostertagi in cattle, and it is effective against stomach worms, lungworms, hookworms, whipworms, and the tapeworm genus Taenia. It is also used to control pinworms, ascarids, and aelurostrongyloides in dogs, cats, rabbits, and reptiles.

The fungicidal properties of fenbendazole have been demonstrated using the checkerboard assay and by measuring the MIC of C. neoformans H99 and C. gattii R265. In addition, the effect of fenbendazole on microtubule organization was assessed by comparing b-tubulin staining patterns in untreated and FBZ-treated cells.

The development of novel antifungal drugs is urgent, but drug discovery and screening are costly and often unsuccessful. Therefore, drug repurposing is an attractive alternative to accelerate the development of new therapies against neglected fungal pathogens such as Cryptococcus neoformans and C. gattii.

Antimicrobial

Fenbendazole is a broad-spectrum benzimidazole anthelmintic that has been used to treat parasitic infections in animals. It is effective against ascarids, hookworms, whipworms, and a single species of tapeworm (Taenia pisiformis). It has low toxicity to mammals, including humans.

The drug’s antimicrobial properties are attributed to its ability to interfere with the formation of microtubules, which are essential for cellular movement and organization. The drug also affects the cytoskeleton, which is a protein scaffold that gives cells their shape and structure.

Recent research has shown that fenbendazole can slow the growth of cancer cells in cell culture and animal models. It is also able to inhibit glucose uptake in cancer cells, making it an attractive candidate for repurposing as a human anticancer agent. However, it is important to remember that fenbendazole hasn’t been tested in clinical trials for cancer treatment.  fenben for humans