Johns Hopkins began researching fenbendazole in 2014 after accidentally discovering it stopped glioblastoma tumors from growing on some mice in their laboratory. Known as the de-wormer that cures cancer, fenbendazole interrupts the cancer cells ability to process sugar and causes them to die. It is also thought that it may prevent cancer cells from gaining resistance to chemotherapy drugs.

This study investigated the effect of 2-h and 24-h treatments with fenbendazole on EMT6 mouse mammary carcinoma cells in vitro, using a highly sensitive colony formation assay to measure cell viability. Results showed that 2-h treatments with fenbendazole were toxic to the cells, and the toxicity increased as the concentration of drug approached the limit of solubility. Both the viability of individual monolayer cultures and clonogenicity of colony-forming assays were reduced with increasing treatment time. Treatment with fenbendazole did not affect the dose-response curves for radiation or docetaxel, but did significantly reduce the number of surviving cells in cultures treated with both drugs.

During the first few weeks of taking fenbendazole, people should follow a strict weekly schedule of three days on and four days off to allow their liver to adequately process the medicine. In addition, people with severe liver and renal failure should use caution when taking fenbendazole because it will accumulate in their bodies and can create unanticipated adverse reactions. Silymarin, a vitamin that helps the body detoxify, is also recommended for these individuals. sanare lab fenbendazole