While some studies in petri dishes and animal models have suggested that antiparasitic medications such as fenbendazole (Panacur, Safe-Guard) might help treat cancer in humans, there’s no credible evidence of this to date. A few patients have reported anecdotal stories of remission while taking this medication, but it’s often hard to attribute their improvement to fenbendazole alone and other factors like conventional cancer treatments are usually not taken into account.
Bendimidazole anthelmintics, including fenbendazole, were developed to manage parasitic infections such as roundworm and hookworm by cutting off their supply of nutrients. They do this by inhibiting the growth of tubulin, which serves as both a cell’s micro-skeleton and a highway for transport. Tubulin is necessary for normal cell function but too much of it can lead to overgrowth and tumors. By collapsing tubulin, fenbendazole and other benzimidazole carbamates like mebendazole cut off a cancer cell’s supply of nutrition and cause it to die.
In addition to preventing a tumor’s ability to grow, fenbendazole may also activate the immune system to fight it. Researchers are working to harness the power of the immune system and direct it toward pancreatic cancer cells, especially metastatic ones that have spread beyond the initial site.
One team of MIT researchers, for example, is using a combination of three drugs—mebendazole, the PD-1 inhibitor nivolumab and the TIGIT inhibitor gilantinib—to boost the body’s natural defenses against pancreatic cancer in mice. This triple combination is expected to enter human clinical trials later this year, with the Lustgarten Foundation for Pancreatic Cancer Research helping to fund the research. fenbendazole for pancreatic cancer