Fenbendazole is a widely used antihelmintic drug that has been shown to kill certain parasitic worms. It is also known to have some cancer-fighting properties and can prevent tumors from forming, but it does not cure cancer by itself. It does not prevent cancer from recurring or killing cells, but it can increase the effectiveness of other treatments such as radiation and chemotherapy. It may also improve quality of life by relieving symptoms caused by certain types of cancer.
A number of groups have claimed that fenbendazole can cure cancer, including Joe Tippens, who claimed in 2016 that taking the drug and a variety of supplements cured his lung cancer. However, this claim has not been scientifically validated. It is important to remember that drug studies in cells and animals cannot tell us if something will work or be safe in humans. A specialist cancer information nurse at Cancer Research UK told Full Fact that there is no evidence that fenbendazole cures cancer, and the drug has not been tested in clinical trials.
Febendazole alone was toxic to EMT6 cells in cell culture, and its toxicity increased with incubation time under conditions of severe hypoxia. Combining fenbendazole with the antineoplastic agent docetaxel in maximum-intensive regimens did not significantly affect growth of EMT6 tumors in vivo, or increase the antineoplastic effects of radiation. Furthermore, analyzing survival curves normalized for clonogenicity shows that the drugs produced additive cytotoxicity and did not interact (Figure 1). 5-fluorouracil-resistant SNU-C5 cells treated with fenbendazole displayed reduced autophagy and increased ferroptosis and augmented apoptosis. Immunoblotting revealed increased phosphorylation of RIP1 and pRIP3, phosphor-mixed lineage kinase domain-like protein 1 (pMLKL), and caspase-8, but not p53, in these cells. fenbendazole for humans