Could a Medicine Originally Used as Dog Dewormer Hold Potential as an Alternative Cancer Treatment?
Fenbendazole (brand names Panacur C ®, Safe-Guard ®) is a veterinary medication introduced in 1974. Worldwide, veterinarians commonly use fenbendazole, FBZ, to treat a variety of parasites in animals, such as tapeworms, hookworms, roundworms, lungworms, and whipworms. Fenbendazole has been known to have a high safety margin for animal use as it is tolerated well, has low side effects, and has a low degree of toxicity.
In recent years, the field of alternative cancer care has started looking towards Fenbendazole as a “repurposed medication”.
What Are Repurposed Medications?
We don’t often think about how long it takes for a drug to get from the laboratory to your neighborhood pharmacy but the reality of the situation is that, between the testing and clinical trials and waiting for FDA approvals, it can take years and hundreds of thousands of dollars.
The idea behind repurposed medications is simple. Repurposing is the practice of taking compounds that have been approved for one illness and using them to treat something else. And it is steadily gaining traction as a smarter, cheaper, safer way to treat disease or infection, including cancer.
Repurposed Medication for Cancer Care
For cancer patients and their loved ones, treatment regimens can be a double-edged sword. As the drugs do their job to fight the cancer, they are often accompanied by debilitating side effects. Sometimes, for no clear reason, medicines that were effective all of a sudden stop working. Cancer patients are often told to hold tight; that a new, less harmful treatment option might be just around the corner.
In oncology, repurposing is not a new idea. In fact, the first chemotherapy drugs originally had an entirely different purpose: they were repurposed from chemical weapons. When treating the victims of “mustard gas”, doctors realized the same toxins that caused blistering might actually have tumor-reducing power and began to convert the toxic compound into a therapeutic one. Many of the most successful cases of drug repurposing have been equally as serendipitous – discovered more by chance than intent. With so many unrelated diseases sharing common molecular characteristics, it stands to reason that there would be huge areas of overlap when it comes to treatment.
Fenbendazole: From Dog Dewormer to Cancer Treatment?
Fenbendazole, like the other benzimidazoles, is a microtubule inhibitor. Microtubules are like little ropes that are used to move things around inside the cell. When microtubules are prevented from doing their job of helping cells divide and reproduce, especially in cancer cells, the cancer cells will die. FBZ helps with cancer cell death. Research has shown that FBZ does not have the same impact on healthy cells.
Fenbendazole can work alongside traditional cancer therapies to decrease cancer cells. For example, one study found that FBZ can treat cancer by inhibiting the cancer cell’s glucose intake and acting as an interfering agent that blocks multiple cellular pathways in cancer cells.
The positive results of research about Fenbendazole as an anticancer agent mean the FDA could eventually approve the drug for treating human ailments, including cancer. This could save a considerable amount of time and money in developing new cancer-fighting drugs that are more affordable and accessible.
What Does the Research Tell Us
Fenbendazole has been studied for its potential to interfere with the glucose intake of cancer cells. Glucose is essential for cancer growth and proliferation.
This interference leads to a decrease in cancer cells both in laboratory settings and in live subjects. It starves the cancer cells of the glucose they need to grow and divide.
Fenbendazole was shown to kill cancerous cells and promote regression in cancer patients with large B-cell lymphoma that had metastasized. It was also found for other metastatic malignancies such as bladder cancer, renal cell carcinoma, and more.
The most recent studies have also shown Fenbendazole can potentially be used to treat pancreatic, ovarian and colorectal cancer.
Dosing Fenbendazole for Cancer
The limited studies suggest that Fenbendazole for humans is safe for consumption because it has low toxicity and a high safety margin. However, it is important to remember that the FDA has not approved Fenbendazole for use in humans.
The optimal dose of any medication and/or supplement is related to the individual characteristics of a patient’s overall health, current disease status, treatment history, and current treatment regimen.
In general, research has found that Fenbendazole for humans is well-tolerated with a single oral dose of 222 mg/per day (1 gram of Panacur®C) up to 444 mg/ per day (2 grams of Panacur®C). However, because human observations are limited, these should be considered general guidelines that may need to change depending on each individual’s health status and specific cancer. All benzimidazole medications, including FBZ are absorbed best when a healthy fat snack/meal accompanies the dosage.
Discuss Fenbendazole with an Integrative Oncology Nurse
If you’re considering taking FBZ or for cancer treatment, it’s important to discuss your plans with a knowledgeable healthcare professional. These medications are not necessarily right for everyone, and your healthcare team must be aware of any new treatments you decide to try.
You can speak with an integrative oncology nurse about your current cancer treatment plan to learn more about FBZ for cancer. In addition, they can give you the latest information available about which product to use from this family of drugs and determine if taking one of them might be right for you.
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