A number of antiparasitic drugs used to treat parasites in animals have been proposed as potential cancer treatments for humans. One such drug is fenbendazole (methyl N-(6-phenylsulfanyl-1H-benzimidazol-2-yl) carbamate), which is used as an anthelmintic to control worms in several animal species and also has been shown to reduce tumor growth in cell experiments.
However, despite anecdotal claims by individuals that they have cured their cancer with this medication, there is no scientific evidence that fenbendazole cures human cancer. The most reliable way to determine if something will work as a treatment for cancer is to test it in randomized clinical trials involving large numbers of patients.
The researchers who tested fenbendazole for its ability to prevent cancer in humans found that it prevented the formation of new tumors in mice. It did this by blocking the formation of microtubules, which are proteins that give cells their shape and structure. When a cell wants to change shape or move through narrow spaces, microtubules help the cells to do so. Cells also use these structures to divide, separating identical chromosomes into two separate daughter cells at a phase of the cell cycle called mitosis. This process is controlled by the mitotic spindle, which also uses microtubules.
In addition to its microtubule-depolymerizing properties, fenbendazole is known to block the growth of tumors by inhibiting the activity of a protein called cyclin D. Cyclin D is involved in the cell cycle, and its inhibition helps to prevent the premature activation of p53, which can trigger apoptosis in cancer cells. The research team found that fenbendazole also caused apoptosis in cancer cells by suppressing the expression of proteins like LC3 and Atg7, as well as decreasing the levels of active caspase-8 and GPX4, which are involved in ferroptosis.
Another important finding was that fenbendazole reduced glucose uptake in cancer cells, which can be used as an indicator of cell growth. This suggests that fenbendazole could be useful in treating some types of cancer, since many cancer cells require a lot of glucose for their energy needs.
But, the researchers stressed that more study is needed to determine if these findings can be replicated in other models and in human patients. There is no evidence that fenbendazole is a safe and effective cancer treatment for human cancer, and the experts at Full Fact point out that any medication that shows promising results in lab tests or animal models must be rigorously tested as a possible cancer treatment in randomized clinical trials in humans before it can be considered a valid therapy. fenbendazole for humans cancer