A dog wormer ingredient that’s already used to treat parasites in dogs may also be an effective cancer treatment for humans. That’s according to a new study, which claims that the anthelmintic drug fenbendazole suppresses the growth of cancer cells in vitro. Researchers believe that fenbendazole kills cancer by preventing the proper formation of microtubules, which provide structure to all cells in living things. The research is published in the journal Scientific Reports.
The researchers first treated human lung cancer cell lines with fenbendazole. They found that the drug significantly reduced glucose uptake in cancer cells, and this effect was augmented by hypoxia. Next, the team investigated whether fenbendazole could kill cancer cells in vivo. They fed the drug to mice with pancreatic cancer and examined the tumors’ appearance, behavior, and weight over time. They found that the fenbendazole-treated mice had smaller, lighter tumors than the control mice.
They also found that fenbendazole killed human pancreatic cancer cells in vivo, without any adverse effects on normal pancreatic cells. The cells were also more likely to undergo ferroptosis, a type of programmed cell death, after treatment with fenbendazole. This was accompanied by increased expression of the autophagy-related genes Beclin-1 and LC3A11. Moreover, the levels of the pro-apoptotic protein caspase-3 and the anti-oxidative enzyme GPX4 were decreased.
The researchers found that fenbendazole also caused apoptosis in human pancreatic cancer cells that had wild-type p53 tumor suppressor genes. The drug induced apoptosis by inducing mitochondrial injury and triggering caspase-3-dependent and autophagy-mediated pathways. Additionally, p53 activation was associated with a decrease in the expression of the transcription factor NF-B, which is linked to cell proliferation. The results suggest that a combination of anti-parasitic drugs and immunotherapy might be an effective strategy for the treatment of human pancreatic cancer. However, the authors note that further studies are needed to validate these findings in a clinical setting. They also note that a number of factors, including drug metabolism and pharmacokinetics, must be taken into account when designing cancer treatments using fenbendazole. The authors of the study are Tara Williamson, Michelle Carvalho de Abreu, Dimitri G Trembath, Cory Brayton, Byunghak Kang and Paulo Pimentel de Assumpcao. The study was funded by the National Science Foundation and the US Army Medical Research Institute of Chemical Defense. The authors disclose that they have intellectual property rights in the fenbendazole formulation and have disclosed their conflict of interest policy. All the authors have read and approved the final version of this manuscript. The paper was edited by the journal’s Editor-in-Chief, Mary Ann Drake. The journal is open access and available online at no charge to all readers. For more information about this journal and its policies, visit the About Journal page. To support the publication of high-quality articles, the journal relies on subscriptions, author payments and donations. We encourage you to subscribe or donate today. Your support is critical to the journal’s mission of advancing science and improving lives worldwide.fenbendazole for humans cancer