Fenbendazole is an anthelmintic drug that is used to treat parasites in animals. It is currently being marketed as an alternative cancer treatment.
Several studies have shown that fenbendazole slows down cancer cell growth in cultured cells and animal models. However, it has not been shown to cure cancer in humans through randomized clinical trials.
A video circulating on TikTok and Facebook shows a Canadian veterinarian making claims about the dog deworming drug fenbendazole curing cancer. The vet says it kills cancer by causing tumour cells to go into apoptosis, autophagy and ferroptosis.
However, the drug hasn’t been tested in humans and has only been approved for use in animals as an antiparasitic. A specialist cancer information nurse at the charity Cancer Research UK told Full Fact that fenbendazole has not been shown to cure cancer. “If something sounds too good to be true, it probably is,” she said.
The video claiming fenbendazole cures cancer features Joe Tippens, a self-proclaimed “cancerous” patient who has a history of non-Hodgkin lymphoma. He is a founder of the CVBC (Cancerous Veterans Beef Club), which claims it has cured many patients of their cancers using a “secret” diet and fenbendazole, among other things.
The CVBC has been the subject of a number of investigations by the Canadian government and is reportedly under investigation in the United States. The video also includes testimonials from some members of the public, including a woman who says she has terminal liver cancer and is self-administering fenbendazole. The interviewee was 80 years old and had been taking fenbendazole for a month, solely on the basis of social media reports that it can cure cancer. She later suffered severe liver injury from the drug and discontinued it. fenbendazole for cancer