Are y’all getting sick and tired of me railing on and on about cancer? Yeah. I’m not, so here we go again. Ivermectin? Fenbendazole? For cancer? I don’t even follow Joe Rogan religiously, so Lord only knows how much of this kind of casual conversation comes up on his show. Please clue me in in the comments section below. In the past few weeks, I’ve literally heard folks talking about, well, certain non-cancer medications to treat cancer-related conditions countless times on social media. And now twice on JRE In the past month? Well, now that’s interesting. Funny, the names of these medications were words you weren’t allowed to even utter on social media during a recent time period on account of a recent global pandemic. You hear me.
And so I started a totally professional covert-word-using blog to be like, omg, wtf, is going on here, THEN I heard the honorable Dr. John Campbell talk openly about the same medications and the same study that showed up on my dark web feed on the dog medication – fenbendazole – and cancer, and I was like, forget it. We’re going there. If learning about the link between antiparasitic medications like ivermectin and fenbendazole and cancer sounds interesting to you, well, then – grab your tin foil hat and let’s go.
I am an animal lover. I have Scottish highland cows, chickens, quail, cats, a husband. I have ivermectin and fenbendazole lying around for them. And maybe for the Mister. What’s interesting about all over-the-counter and pharmaceutical medications we have today is that they were studied on animals before they were used in humans. If the rats lived and got better, someone from the regulatory agency said ok, unleash it on the humans. But to be clear, all medications used in humans were originally used in animals. So this whole thing on a ‘horse dewormer’ you’re not supposed to take that’s been used in humans for 50 years….please.
Remember this? You might not. It’s been memory holed. During the pandemic people who cared to read scientific papers quickly learned that a medication called ivermectin might be useful in treating Covid 19. There’s a few studies on this – you can read all 105 of them here:
It was safe, it was dirt cheap, it had been around for decades and our three letter agencies absolutely melted down over this. The FDA went to far as to post the lovely warning reminding Americans – “You are not a horse. You are not a cow. Seriously, ya’ll. Stop it.” This post has since been taken down. It’s a long story.
They make ivermectin for cows and horses, but news flash, they make it for humans too. Do you have any idea how many medications are used in both humans and in animals. That’s really not the point of this post, but it’s a lot. I asked ChatGPT to give me a list. Here’s a few:
- Antibiotics
- Amoxicillin – Used for bacterial infections in both humans and animals.
- Doxycycline – Treats infections like Lyme disease, respiratory infections, and some STDs.
- Cephalexin – Common for skin infections and UTIs.
- Metronidazole – Used for GI infections (e.g., Giardia) and anaerobic bacterial infections.
- Azithromycin – Used for respiratory infections and some STDs.
- Enrofloxacin (Baytril) – Related to ciprofloxacin; mainly for animals but similar in action.
- Antiparasitics & Antifungals
- Ivermectin – Used in humans for onchocerciasis, scabies, and strongyloidiasis; in animals for deworming and parasites.
- Fenbendazole – Used in animals for deworming, with controversial off-label human cancer use.
- Praziquantel – Treats tapeworm infections in both humans and animals.
- Ketoconazole – Antifungal used for skin and systemic fungal infections.
- Fluconazole – Treats yeast and fungal infections.
- Pain Relievers & Anti-Inflammatories
- Meloxicam – NSAID used in both humans and animals for arthritis and pain relief.
- Carprofen (Rimadyl) – Similar to ibuprofen but mainly used in veterinary medicine.
- Tramadol – Opioid-like painkiller used in both humans and animals (though effectiveness in dogs is debated).
- Gabapentin – Used for nerve pain and seizures in both humans and pets.
- Cardiovascular & Blood Pressure Medications
- Amlodipine – Treats high blood pressure in both humans and animals.
- Enalapril/Benazepril – ACE inhibitors used in heart failure and kidney disease.
- Furosemide (Lasix) – Diuretic for heart failure and edema.
- Atenolol – Beta-blocker for heart conditions.
- Hormones & Endocrine Medications
- Levothyroxine – Used for hypothyroidism in both humans and pets.
- Insulin – Essential for diabetes management in both species.
- Prednisone/Prednisolone – Used as an anti-inflammatory and immunosuppressant.
- Psychiatric & Neurological Medications
- Fluoxetine (Prozac) – Used for depression, anxiety, and OCD in humans, and for canine separation anxiety.
- Trazodone – Used for sleep and anxiety disorders in humans and pets.
- Phenobarbital – Anti-seizure medication used in both.
- Chemotherapy & Cancer Medications
- Cyclophosphamide – Used for cancers in both humans and animals.
- Doxorubicin – Chemotherapy drug for various cancers.
- Chlorambucil – Used in leukemia and lymphoma treatment.
- Gastrointestinal Medications
- Famotidine (Pepcid AC) – Reduces stomach acid.
- Omeprazole (Prilosec) – Proton pump inhibitor for ulcers.
- Metoclopramide – Used for nausea and gastric motility disorders.
Some here. A few more here.
Human medications and animal medications are basically the same medication. It’s typically the dosing that makes it more complicated than that – we metabolize some medications slower or faster than your dog. But aside from your prefrontal cortex, opposable thumbs, and ability to open a bottle, we’re all animals. Thus, the medicines for animals and humans have more in common than not.
I actually didn’t know this until about 5 years ago. In fact, I wonder if the reason the all-knowing universe allowed the recent pandemic to happen on planet Earth to begin with was to shed light on the amazing healing truths about certain medications that had been hiding in plain sight for decades. Safe, inexpensive therapies that were indicated for one thing, but overtime were found to be effective at treating other things. Medications that might cure…let’s say cancer? Well, that would be interesting, now wouldn’t it.
There’s a whole bunch going in here in SOT 1 but I’m just going to run it – in case you’re not in the majority of the population who’s already seen it. OK, Silky Sullivan – let’s roll:
Rogan/Gibson
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sZ17-ionKIM
What….? Is this now allowed on the YouTubes? Well, apparently, it is. And I guess, so is this:
Rogan/Gordan, time stamp 02:28:41
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WZDckDvN4sA
I am a doctor, but I am not your doctor, and this show is in no way meant to be medical advice. You should be getting that from your very own doctor. However, I do think reviewing some relevant research and providing a bit of historical perspective is responsible. Even if that information is inconvenient for the medical system at large.
Medicine is first and foremost, a business. A big one. How big? Well…pretty much the biggest. Where are we at here – number 1, 2, 3, and 5 on the list of the top 10 biggest industries by revenue in the US.
https://www.ibisworld.com/united-states/industry-trends/biggest-industries-by-revenue/
And how does Big Medicine make money? Two ways:
- Sick people
- Expensive medications
If you take away sick people, you’ve got no one to sell to. If you take away expensive medications, you’ve got nothing to profit from. There you go. Consider yourself a graduate from the school of Big Medicine.
So why is Mel Gibson so cagey in this clip? Why does it seem impossible for him to even say the words ‘fenbendazole’, ‘ivermectin’, ‘methylene blue’, and the ‘hydrochloride stuff you drink’. Ok – I won’t even say even say the actual name of the last one out loud. Not here anyway. I have a family.
What kind of insider secret is this? Something Mel Gibson, Dr. Mark Gordon, Joe Rogan and only those with a VPN seem to know about? But you don’t? You can find it. Or I can just tell you.
What these words have in common is this: they are safe, old, inexpensive, off-label medications available to basically anyone with a cell phone and a Comcast connection that stand to threaten one of the largest pillars in the dynasty of big medicine: Cancer. Let’s get into it.
Let’s talk about Fenbendazole first.
What is Fenbendazole?
Fenbendazole is a broad-spectrum anti-parasitic drug primarily used in veterinary medicine to treat intestinal parasites in animals (dogs, cats, livestock). It belongs to the benzimidazole class of drugs, which disrupt microtubule function in parasitic worms, leading to their death. Interestingly, that mechanism of action seems to be quite handy in killing cancerous cells, too. This class of medication leaves healthy cells alone, but it can sniff out a cancer cell like a dog finding a bone. Cancer cells exist because of their ability to divide. Medications like fenbendazole throw a monkey wrench into the ability of cells to do that. If cells can’t divide, the self-destruct switch is flipped, and it’s game over.
How Did Fenbendazole Gain Attention for Cancer Treatment?
In 2016, a man by the name of Joe Tippens, an Oklahoma businessman, was diagnosed with small-cell lung cancer that had metastasized extensively. Given a prognosis of only a few months to live, he enrolled in a clinical trial at MD Anderson Cancer Center with 1,100 other patients with the same diagnosis. They were all given an experimental immunotherapy drug called Keytruda.
As the story goes, Tippens is chatting about this one day with his dog’s veterinarian, who tells him about fenbendazole, a deworming medication primarily used in animals, which had shown potential anticancer properties in laboratory studies. Although not FDA-approved for use in humans, its kissing cousin, mebendazole (which is one molecule different in chemical structure), is – and is known to be extremely safe. He says, what the heck, I guess I’ll try that too. So he begins taking fenbendazole daily, along with a few other supplements like vitamin E, CBD oil, and curcumin.
After approximately three months, he was not only still alive, but his medical scans showed no detectable cancer in his body. Joe Tippens was the only patient among the 1,100 in the clinical trial to experience remission of his cancer. He not only survived, he had no evidence of disease. Everyone else apparently died. Maybe it was the vitamin E, maybe the CBD, maybe he just got lucky. But it was the fenbendazole that catapulted Joe Tippens into the Zeitgeist.
His success story spread widely through alternative medicine communities – probably through the Onion Router and 4Chan – marking interest in fenbendazole as a repurposed anticancer drug. I mean seriously. Who would take any of that information on what someone did to cure themselves of the most lethal type of cancer seriously. Obviously fake news, right? Moving on.
Proposed Mechanisms in Cancer
Fenbendazole is approved for dogs with worms. And that’s about it. According to what’s been curated for you to read and know. What is less well known, is fenbendazole works similarly to several chemotherapeutic drugs by inhibiting cell division, glucose metabolism, tumor gene suppression, angiogenesis and promoting cancer cell death. Interesting.
Then, this study was published last month. The one that showed up on my dark web feed, called Exploring the Anticancer Potential of Fenbendazole: A Review of Anecdotal Case Reports and Emerging Evidence (2025).
https://www.onedaymd.com/2025/01/anticancer-potential-fenbendazole.html
This isn’t a large-scale double blinded randomized prospective placebo-controlled clinical trial – remember, those million-dollar studies are the only ones Industry is interested in reading. But it is a compilation of EIGHTY (8-0) case reports. Eighty case reports of various cancer types including breast, lung, colorectal, and pancreatic cancers, all successfully treated with fenbendazole. The dog dewormer. Different doses were used. Like Tippens, some patients were also being treated with chemotherapy or radiation, but these were all bad cancers. Cancers that would have been expected to have extremely poor outcomes with conventional therapy alone, that had – some might say, miraculous outcomes with the addition of fenbendazole.
Here’s another published case report compilation titled, Fenbendazole Enhancing Anti-Tumor Effect: A Case Series.
The researchers reported, “we have three patients with different primary genitourinary tumors who demonstrated complete response after receiving fenbendazole therapy.”
Fenbendazole and mebendazole are basically the same medication. And we have more than a few promising studies on mebendazole and cancer. Like these:
- Repurposing Drugs in Oncology (ReDO)—Mebendazole as an Anti-Cancer Agent
This study discusses mebendazole’s ability to inhibit lung cancer cell growth by fivefold compared to controls. The authors confirmed the growth inhibitory effects of mebendazole against breast, ovary, colon carcinomas, and osteosarcoma, producing IC50s that varied from 0.1 to 0.8 μM.
ecancer.org
- Mebendazole as a Candidate for Drug Repurposing in Oncology
This comprehensive review highlights mebendazole’s efficacy in reducing tumor growth, impairing tumor angiogenesis, and inducing apoptosis across various cancer models, including medulloblastoma and colorectal cancer.
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Mebendazole Treatment Disrupts the Transcriptional Activity of Hypoxia-Inducible Factors in Breast Cancer Cells
The study demonstrates that mebendazole inhibits the transcriptional activity of hypoxia-inducible factors in breast cancer cell lines and mouse models, suggesting its potential as a chemotherapeutic agent.
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- A Phase 2a Clinical Study on the Safety and Efficacy of Individualized Treatment with the Repurposed Drug Mebendazole in Patients with Advanced Cancer
This clinical study explores the safety and efficacy of mebendazole in patients with advanced cancer, indicating its potential as a repurposed drug in oncology.
nature.com
- Mebendazole Prevents Distant Organ Metastases in Part by Inhibiting Tumor Angiogenesis in an Orthotopic Breast Cancer Model
The research shows that mebendazole prevents distant organ metastases by inhibiting tumor angiogenesis in a breast cancer model, highlighting its potential in preventing cancer spread.
breast-cancer-research.biomedcentral.com
- Johns Hopkins Study: Anti-Parasitic Drug Slows Pancreatic Cancer in Mice
A study by Johns Hopkins Medicine found that mebendazole prevents pancreatic cancer’s initiation, progression, and metastasis in genetically engineered mice, suggesting its potential utility in pancreatic cancer treatment.
hopkinsmedicine.org
- Mebendazole and Temozolomide in Patients with Newly Diagnosed High-Grade Gliomas: A Phase 1 Clinical Trial
This phase 1 clinical trial investigates the combination of mebendazole and temozolomide in patients with high-grade gliomas, indicating potential benefits in brain cancer therapy.
academic.oup.com
- Mebendazole or Fenbendazole – CancerChoices
This review discusses the promising anticancer effects of mebendazole in preclinical studies and initial human trials, noting its potential in various cancer types.
cancerchoices.org
- Mebendazole Induces Apoptosis via Bcl-2 Inactivation in Chemoresistant Melanoma Cells
This study found that mebendazole induces apoptosis in chemoresistant melanoma cells by inactivating Bcl-2, suggesting its potential in overcoming drug resistance in melanoma treatment.
- Mebendazole Monotherapy and Long-Term Disease Control in Metastatic Adrenocortical Carcinoma
A case report detailing a patient with metastatic adrenocortical carcinoma who achieved long-term disease control with mebendazole monotherapy, highlighting its potential as a treatment option in refractory cases.
The NIH doesn’t like this. Here’s what they have to say about fenbendazole:
“Our studies provided no evidence that fenbendazole warrants further testing as a potential agent for use in cancer…” So we have more than 80 case reports demonstrating some degree of efficacy, with no evidence of harm and the NIH says – “There is nothing to see here.” I know, you’re shocked. I can tell by your face.
Ivermectin
OK – let’s do Ivermectin.
Ivermectin was discovered in some soil bacteria in Japan in the 1970s. Oh and the guy who discovered it won the 2015 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his work in developing ivermectin.
The same year, the woman who discovered Wormwood (which also treats cancer) also won a Nobel Prize. Interesting.
Ivermectin was branded under the trade name Stromectrol by Merck in 1987. It lost patent status in 1996 and has been available as a generic since that time. Remember, generic means ‘costs a dollar.’
Ivermectin has been studied and used off-label for various conditions beyond its FDA-approved antiparasitic applications. Again, many drugs are discovered or developed for one reason, but once they’ve been around for a while, we learn more about them – how they work, which pathways are affected. Over time, many medications are found to have benefits for things other than just their original indication. This is called ‘off-label’ prescribing or ‘repurposed drugs.’ This doesn’t typically happen until patents run out, as insurance companies don’t like paying for expensive branded medications that were intended for one thing but just so happen to be useful for something else.
Think Ozempic. Ozempic is FDA-approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, but we’ve come to learn that in spite of its potential side effects, it might very well be the most effective weight loss agent ever discovered. Think your insurance company is going to pay $1200 a month for you to lose weight on Ozempic. Not unless you also happen to have diabetes. Or a miracle. And even then…I digress.
Most medications being used off-label have already come off-patent. They’re cheap, inexpensive. You don’t need your insurance company to help cover your $5 hydroxychloroquine prescription. That medication was initially approved for treating and preventing malaria. Now it’s used for joint pain, autoimmune disease, and certain recent pandemic infections by some. In the U.S., off-label drug use is very common. Like half of all prescriptions are for off-label use.
Ivermectin has been used off-label for a bunch of stuff. Acne, rosacea, autoimmune disease, brain injury, HIV, Lyme disease, tuberculosis – and….good Lord almighty, cancer. What kind of cancer? Well, according to my notes of studies posted on PubMed, which is the government’s database of ‘science’ – there are studies on basically all of them.
You can check them out here.
- Ivermectin: A Multifaceted Drug With a Potential Beyond Anti-Parasitic Therapy
This review discusses ivermectin’s ability to inhibit tumor cell proliferation, induce apoptosis, and enhance the efficacy of other anticancer agents across various cancer cell lines.
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Ivermectin and Pembrolizumab for the Treatment of Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
A clinical trial exploring the combination of ivermectin with pembrolizumab, an immune checkpoint inhibitor, to assess its safety and efficacy in patients with metastatic triple-negative breast cancer.
cancer.gov
- A Phase I/II Study Evaluating the Safety and Efficacy of Ivermectin in Combination with Balstilimab in Patients with Metastatic Triple-Negative Breast Cancer
This study investigates the combination of ivermectin with balstilimab, aiming to enhance immune response and assess therapeutic outcomes in metastatic triple-negative breast cancer patients.
gatewaycr.org
- Ivermectin Suppresses Pancreatic Cancer via Mitochondrial Dysfunction
Research indicates that ivermectin, especially when combined with gemcitabine, inhibits pancreatic cancer cell proliferation by inducing mitochondrial dysfunction and promoting apoptosis.
aacrjournals.org
- Ivermectin Has New Application in Inhibiting Colorectal Cancer Cell Growth
This study demonstrates that ivermectin inhibits colorectal cancer cell growth by inducing cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, suggesting its potential as a therapeutic agent.
frontiersin.org
- Ivermectin, a Potential Anticancer Drug Derived from an Antiparasitic Drug
A comprehensive review highlighting ivermectin’s antitumor effects, including inhibition of proliferation, metastasis, and angiogenesis in various cancer cells, through the regulation of multiple signaling pathways.
pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Ivermectin: A Systematic Review from Antimicrobial to Anticancer Agent
This systematic review discusses ivermectin’s transition from an antiparasitic to a potential anticancer agent, detailing its mechanisms in inhibiting cancer cell growth and inducing programmed cell death.
- Ivermectin Induces Cytostatic and Cytotoxic Effects in Breast Cancer Cells
Research shows that ivermectin exerts both cytostatic and cytotoxic effects on breast cancer cells, involving the modulation of multiple signaling pathways and induction of apoptosis.
- Ivermectin Enhances the Efficacy of Chemotherapeutic Agents in Ovarian Cancer
This study explores how ivermectin can enhance the effectiveness of standard chemotherapy drugs in ovarian cancer treatment by modulating drug resistance mechanisms.
- Ivermectin Targets Cancer Stem Cells in Glioblastoma
Findings suggest that ivermectin can target and inhibit cancer stem cells in glioblastoma, potentially preventing tumor recurrence and improving treatment outcomes.
There’s an excellent review published last fall on ivermectin and other repurposed drugs here:
Hey, I’m not saying antiparasitics like ivermectin, fenbendazole, or mebendazole have been definitively proven as effective therapies for cancer. But gosh, there’s sure a mounting number (like hundreds) of preclinical trials, published data, and individual case reports. Given how long these therapeutics have been in circulation and how many people have used them, I think we can say that if they were harmful, we would know. And if they simply didn’t work, we’d know that too. There’s no vested interest here. No money on the line or pharmaceutical company to gain from one outcome or the other.
But remember, Big Medicine is in the other corner. And they do have something to lose if these therapies prove to be effective. Fewer sick people? Less expensive medications?
It would be nice to have large clinical trials on these therapies. Our three letter agencies have openly said they have no interest in knowing, but the people who pay their salaries do. People with cancer – aggressive, treatment-resistant, late-stage cancers that are being diagnosed more today than at any other time in history. Perhaps with the new administration, there will be more emphasis on public health and less on industry profits. Time will tell. Maybe we can take some of that $6 million we’re sending to Georgia to “transform digital spaces to reflect feminist democratic principles” and direct that back to interests that service the American public.
