A popular alternative medicine for dogs is fenbendazole, which is commonly prescribed to treat various intestinal parasites. Recently, it has become the focus of a viral video on TikTok that claims fenbendazole cures cancer. However, the claims in the video are not backed up by research or clinical trials and are completely false.
The medication fenbendazole is a potent anthelmintic. It is used to treat and prevent numerous intestinal parasites in dogs, including roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, lungworms, and giardias. It is also sometimes used off-label to protect against nematodes, which are parasitic worms that inhabit the stomach and intestinal tract of dogs.
This medication works by blocking the enzymes that regulate cell growth and division. It also interferes with the transport of certain nutrients into cells. This causes the cell to stop functioning properly and eventually die. Fenbendazole is typically administered orally in tablets or capsules and is well tolerated by most dogs when it is properly prescribed.
In the video on TikTok, a veterinarian named Andrew Jones is seen speaking to the camera and presenting a series of case studies on how he has treated cancer patients using fenbendazole, a drug commonly prescribed for parasitic infections in dogs. He then goes on to discuss his treatment plan for dogs with small-cell lung cancer, which involves giving the animal fenbendazole. Despite the fact that Jones has never studied veterinary oncology, his videos have been widely shared on social media and have attracted the attention of cancer researchers.
A research team at McMaster University investigated the effects of fenbendazole on the radiation response of EMT6 tumor cells in vitro. The cultures were made hypoxic by sealing the vessels with rubber gaskets, inserting needles for influx and efflux of gases, and then gassing them with a mixture of 95% nitrogen and 5% carbon dioxide with 1 ppm oxygen (Sigma, St Louis, MO) for 1 h before the addition of the drug and irradiation. The surviving fractions of the cultures were then measured.
The scientists found that fenbendazole did not increase the sensitivity of hypoxic cells to radiation. The survival curves of the cultures with and without fenbendazole had the same shape, suggesting no synergistic interaction between the drugs.
These results suggest that fenbendazole does not promote the radiosensitivity of hypoxic EMT6 cells, and that it cannot be used to treat tumors with low oxygen content. In contrast, fenbendazole did not reduce the radiosensitivity of normal human mammary cells or non-cancerous lung tissues in mice treated with low doses of irradiation. This suggests that fenbendazole is not a useful radiosensitizer for the treatment of tumors in humans or animals. However, additional research is needed to understand why this is the case. The results of this study may be helpful in developing strategies to improve the radiosensitivity of cancers that are resistant to conventional chemotherapy treatments. fenbendazole cures cancer