When Joe Tippens was diagnosed with late-stage lung cancer in 2016, he was told he had three months to live. But he refused to accept that fate and found a way to beat his disease that has doctors scratching their heads and other patients raising eyebrows. Tippens credits a dog dewormer, of all things.
The medication he’s referring to is the popular pet treatment fenbendazole, known under the commercial brand Panacur C. While it’s often used to treat hookworms and other gut parasites in dogs, it’s also been shown to have some pretty amazing cancer-fighting abilities in lab tests.
Unlike many other cancer treatments that have serious side effects, fenbendazole is a simple antiparasitic that doesn’t affect the rest of the body. According to research published in Nature Medicine, fenbendazole appears to suppress cancer by targeting microtubules, the structures that give shape to cells.
While the drug isn’t approved for cancer, its use as a cancer treatment has been advocated by websites, blogs, and even some medical professionals. But the truth is, there isn’t enough evidence to support those claims.
While fenbendazole does appear to help some cancers in lab tests, the federal cancer agencies tell PolitiFact that more study is needed before it can be approved as a human cancer treatment. And despite the success stories that are popping up, most oncologists remain skeptics. dog dewormer for cancer