Fenbendazole (sometimes called Safe-Guard or Panacur) is an anthelmintic drug, typically used to treat whipworms, hookworms and some tapeworms. It first debuted in scientific trials as a potential cancer treatment some years ago, but did not go further. It is currently only used for parasites in humans and animals.
It has the power to impede glucose absorption, effectively starving cancer cells of their primary fuel source. It does so by interfering with linear movement through the microtubule, and slows the appearance of the glucose transporter isoform 4 (GLUT4), which normally stimulates insulin-fueled sugar uptake into cancer cells.
In addition, fenbendazole is known to disrupt proteasomal interference, interfere with cell-cycle progression, and inhibit cyclin B1-dependent kinase 1. All of these mechanisms have been shown to promote cancer cell death.
However, a case report of an 80-year-old female patient who self-administered fenbendazole on the basis of social media reports and experienced serious liver injury suggests that this drug does not have beneficial effects when used alone.
The patients interviewed for this study reported receiving information about fenbendazole from acquaintances, family members or TV news, with acquaintances and friends being the most common channels. They believed that if they were healthy and had no comorbidities, fenbendazole could possibly cure their cancer. This is not supported by current research and a randomized controlled trial would be needed to confirm this claim. Additionally, it is likely that the patient was also receiving other conventional cancer treatments at the same time, which could have contributed to her remission. fenbendazole for humans cancer