Fenben, a common dog dewormer and pinworm medicine, is becoming increasingly popular as part of a cancer treatment protocol. It’s known as the Joe Tippens Protocol and has been credited with curing several late-stage cancers.
While anecdotal evidence supports the effectiveness of fenben for humans, more research needs to be done before it can be recommended as a cancer cure. This article will cover what research has been done so far.
1. Effectiveness
Fenbendazole is a broad-spectrum benzimidazole anthelminth used in many animal species to treat various worms, including pinworms, roundworms, hookworms, and tapeworms. It is also commonly known by the brand name Panacur. It is thought that the anthelmintic properties of this drug, which can kill parasites and other worms, can also suppress cancer growth.
Scientists have found that fenbendazole can inhibit the growth of cancer cells in petri dishes and mice. The drug appears to work by blocking the growth of microtubules, which essentially provide structure to all cells. Researchers are investigating whether anthelmintic drugs like fenbendazole can also stop the growth of cancer in human beings.
The repurposing of medications is a hot trend in modern medicine. Researchers are trying to find new ways to treat cancer without using toxic chemotherapy agents. They are looking for drugs that target multiple cellular targets and can be effective against cancer without the side effects of traditional treatments.
Scientists have discovered that fenbendazole can help to activate the p53 gene, which is a tumor-suppressing gene that can prevent cancer from spreading and growing. The p53 gene is active in most human cancers, but it becomes inactivated in certain types of cancer. The reactivation of the p53 gene is an important part of developing anti-cancer therapy. Currently, scientists are researching whether other drugs can mimic the effects of the p53 gene.
2. Safety
Fenbendazole is a widely used anthelmintic (drug that kills parasitic worms) and belongs to the broad-spectrum benzimidazole carbamate family. It is known to be effective against a wide variety of parasites, including roundworms, whipworms, hookworms and tapeworms. It is primarily available as a veterinary medicine and has been safely used in animals for decades.
Recently, the drug has gained popularity among cancer patients online due to claims by Joe Tippens that it cures his stage 4 lung cancer. However, Full Fact reports that there is no evidence to support his claim. In addition, the fenbendazole hasn’t gone through any clinical trials in humans and has not been approved by the FDA to treat cancer.
A recent study published in Scientific Reports suggests that fenbendazole may have potential as an anti-cancer drug. The researchers found that the drug reactivates the p53 gene in human cells and prevents tumor growth.
The research team included Dr Mukhopadhyay and a group of researchers from Panjab University. They found that fenbendazole has low toxicity and is well tolerated by most species. It has a high safety margin, even when administered at dosages several times higher than the normal one. As a result, it is an ideal candidate for development as an anti-cancer drug. However, it’s important to note that fenbendazole is not the first medication with similar properties. Several other drugs, including paclitaxel and vincristine, have already been approved for use in humans.
3. Side effects
Fenbendazole acts by interfering with the formation of microtubules, a protein scaffold that establishes shape and structure within cells. Textbook depictions of cells frequently portray various organelles floating in amorphous bags of liquid, but the cytoskeleton is what gives cells their structure and allows them to move. Microtubules are made of a protein called tubulin. Fenbendazole binds to tubulin and prevents it from forming the complex needed to form the cytoskeleton, which causes cell death.
Another way fenbendazole kills cancerous cells is by interfering with glucose intake, the fuel cancer cells use to grow and proliferate. By blocking the cell’s ability to take up glucose, fenbendazole starves cancer cells, leading to tumor regression in laboratory experiments and in some patients.
This repositioning of the benzimidazole carbamate class of drugs as anticancer agents has opened up new avenues for research. One of the most promising compounds is fenbendazole, which is used as a veterinary medicine to treat parasitic worms (ascarids, roundworms, whipworms, and a single species of tapeworm) and also against giardiasis in humans.
In a Facebook post, Joe Tippens claimed that his late-stage cancer was cured using the “Joe Tippens Protocol.” Although the Joe Tippens Cancer Protocol has no scientific backing and there is no evidence that fenbendazole can cure any type of cancer, it gained popularity because he reported experiencing zero side effects while taking the drug.
4. Dosage
Fenbendazole (FZ) is a benzimidazole antihelminthic drug. It has a broad spectrum of activity against different parasites including protozoa and nematodes. This property has led to a proposal for repurposing this veterinary medication as an effective human anticancer agent. Development of new drugs requires a lot of time, money and effort. However, repurposing a veterinary drug that shows promising results can save valuable resources as well as speed up the process.
Studies of FZ have shown that it exhibits potent antitumor activity against various cancer cell lines in vitro and in vivo. This activity is primarily due to the disruption of microtubule dynamics, stabilization of p53, and interference with glucose uptake in cancer cells.
The fenbendazole craze gained momentum when Joe Tippens, a man with terminal Ewing sarcoma, claimed that the dog medicine saved his life. However, since Tippens was also undergoing conventional cancer treatments at the time, it is impossible to attribute his remission to the drug alone.
While studies have shown that fenbendazole can slow down cancer cell growth in laboratory tests, there isn’t enough evidence to say that it can cure cancer in people. The FDA hasn’t approved the use of this medication as a cancer treatment, and randomized controlled trials involving large groups of patients would be needed to determine whether it is safe and effective.