Fenben for humans has been in the spotlight due to a story about a man who used it to cure his own small cell lung cancer. In the wake of this, multiple scientific journal articles have delved deeper into the anti-cancer effects of fenbendazole, a dewormer in the benzimidazole family (I coined it Benz) that’s been used as an anthelmintic for some six decades.
FZ has been shown to exert in vitro and in vivo antitumor activity by disrupting microtubule dynamics, activating p53, and modulating genes involved in multiple pathways. In addition, it induces the apoptosis of human cancer cells via mitochondrial translocation of p53 and by suppressing glucose uptake by down regulation of GLUT transporters as well as key glycolytic enzymes.
In a xenograft model, fenbendazole inhibited the growth of a human lung adenocarcinoma derived tumor in female athymic nu/nu mice. At the same time, the drug significantly reduced tumor volume and weight, suppressing both local invasion and lymph node metastasis. Fenbendazole also showed anti-tumor activities in human ovarian cancer and colon cancer cells with KRAS mutation.
As a broad-spectrum anthelmintic, fenbendazole has been safely used in veterinary medicine for more than 50 years and is currently available for use as a parasiticide against hookworms, whipworms, roundworms, and tapeworms. The drug has a very long track record of safety in humans and has a similar track record to another anti-parasitic, mebendazole, which was discovered to have potent anti-cancer activity in lab tests in 2002. fenben for humans