Fenbendazole is a broad-spectrum anthelmintic drug primarily used to treat parasites and worms (roundworms, hookworms, whipworms and tapeworms) in humans and animals (common brand names include Pancur and Safe-Guard). It’s now being claimed as an effective cancer treatment. The claim is based on the anecdotal evidence of one man who says he put his cancer into remission using this medication and other lifestyle changes. The story is being marketed as the Joe Tippens protocol.
We investigated whether fenbendazole can exert anti-cancer effects in colorectal cancer cells with different mutations of p53, and the possible mechanisms involved in its action. Fenbendazole significantly induced G2/M arrest and apoptosis in wild-type but not mutant p53 colorectal cancer cells SNU-C5 and SNU-C5/5-FUR, and triggered autophagy through Beclin-1 expression and mitochondrial dysfunction in both CRC cell lines. Moreover, it significantly enhanced the cell death caused by apoptosis, necroptosis and ferroptosis through an increase of DAMP expression. Treatment with ferrostatin-1 or deferoxamine mesylate (DFOM), an iron chelator to inhibit SLC7A11-dependent ferroptosis, did not inhibit fenbendazole-induced cell death.
We conducted focus group interviews with 21 lung cancer patients on the process of acquiring general and false information about fenbendazole, as well as their perceptions and attitudes toward the acquired information. Based on the results of these interviews, we found that cancer patients acquire their fenbendazole information through a variety of channels step-by-step. Furthermore, the quality of the acquired information is diverse depending on the channel and source, as indicated by their perceptions and attitudes toward it. fenbendazole cancer