Fenben is an animal anthelmintic drug used to treat hookworms, whipworms, roundworms and certain forms of tapeworms. It was first shown to have anti-cancer activity in lab experiments back in the year 2002. It has a long track record of safe use in humans.
Recently, it came back into the spotlight thanks to a veterinarian’s videos on social media. He claimed that using fenben, which is commonly sold under the brand names Safe-Guard and Panacur, cured his small cell lung cancer. The videos went viral on Facebook and TikTok, but were later debunked by a researcher at McMaster University.
Researchers investigated the effect of fenben on human non-small cell lung cancer cells, treating them with it every day for 12 days. They observed that the drug caused partial disruption of the microtubule network in the cells, activation of p53 tumour suppressor gene and modulation of multiple genes involved in the regulation of various cellular pathways. It also inhibited glucose uptake in the cancer cells by down regulating GLUT transporters and key glycolytic enzymes.
In a separate set of experiments, mice with an established EMT6 tumor were treated either with the placebo, three daily i.p injections of fenbendazole or with i.p injections of fenbendazole in combination with 10 Gy of local tumor irradiation. The number of tumors in the lungs was significantly reduced in the fenbendazole-treated mice, both for those without radiation and those with local irradiation. This is likely because fenbendazole, in addition to disrupting the mitotic spindle and inducing apoptosis, interferes with glycolysis and inhibits the proliferation of cancer cells. fenben for humans