Fenbendazole is an antiparasitic drug that’s used to treat a number of parasitic infections in animals. It’s also been found to suppress cancer cells in laboratory tests, and research is continuing into its potential as an anticancer treatment. But the animal studies don’t prove fenbendazole is an effective cancer treatment for humans, and there have been no randomized clinical trials in people. Specialist cancer information nurses at Cancer Research UK say that currently there’s insufficient evidence that fenbendazole cures cancer, and it hasn’t been shown to be safe for humans.
On his YouTube channel, Jones frequently shares videos claiming that a variety of natural remedies and supplements can cure cancer. This includes fenbendazole, an antiparasitic drug that’s commonly prescribed to treat gastrointestinal parasites like giardia, hookworms, whipworms, the tapeworm genus Taenia, pinworms, and aelurostrongylus.
Despite the lack of any clinical evidence, many cancer patients and their families have been convinced that the drug cures cancer. It isn’t clear what leads some people to believe that fenbendazole can treat cancer, but it is important for everyone to understand the science behind the claims, so they can make informed decisions about their own health.
In a video posted on TikTok and Facebook in 2019, Jones discusses Joe Tippens, a cancer patient who said he beat his rare form of small-cell lung cancer by taking fenbendazole. In fact, Jones didn’t mention that Tippens had already received other conventional cancer treatments and immuno-cancer therapies in a clinical trial, and it’s not known if the fenbendazole was what got rid of his cancer.
Jones has also shared TikTok videos citing a research paper by Johns Hopkins University researchers. The paper, published in Scientific Reports in 2018, observed that fenbendazole and other drugs in the same class (benzimidazole carbamates) reduced the proliferation of colorectal cancer cells in the lab (in vitro). It did so by inhibiting the growth of microtubules, which provide structure to cells; the same process inhibited by several approved cancer treatments.
Other lab research has also demonstrated that fenbendazole can induce multiple mechanisms of cell death, including apoptosis, autophagy, and ferroptosis. A study by scientists at Stanford ChEM-H suggests that a drug with multiple cellular targets may be more effective than single-target drugs, which can show limited efficacy and lead to resistance in some patients.
The authors of the study note that their research “demonstrates the potential for fenbendazole to be used as an adjuvant therapy in combination with other cancer treatments.” This would be important because the treatment is already FDA-approved, and it’s relatively inexpensive compared to other chemotherapeutic agents.
But the research is only at the pre-clinical stage, and a randomized clinical trial involving a large number of people will be required to determine whether or not fenbendazole cures or reduces the size of cancer in human beings. Until then, it’s not recommended that anyone take it to treat their cancer. In the meantime, it’s a good idea to stick with evidence-based cancer treatments, as these have been proven to work in countless studies in mice and humans. fenbendazole cures cancer