Mebendazole, a prescription drug used in humans to treat parasites, and fenbendazole, a treatment for parasites in animals, show promising but so far very preliminary evidence of anticancer effects.
How do experts use mebendazole or fenbendazole?
See a commentary by integrative physician Will LaValley, MD, about using mebendazole or fenbendazole in cancer care in Are you a health professional? ›
Dosing
Dosing for use in cancer care has not been standardized. Information about dosing is available from Pantziarka P, Bouche G, Meheus L, Sukhatme V, Sukhatme VP. Repurposing Drugs in Oncology (ReDO)-mebendazole as an anti-cancer agent. Ecancermedicalscience. 2014 Jul 10;8:443.
General information about dosing
Find general dosing guidelines regarding natural products and supplements in Dosing Guidelines ›
Enhancing mebendazole’s bioavailability
Mebendazole and other drugs in the same class (benzimidazoles) have extremely poor water solubility, resulting in very low absorption by the body (bioavailability). In animal (preclinicaltesting a drug, a procedure, or another medical treatment in isolated cells or in animals; preclinical evidence is considered only an initial indication of possible effects in people) studies, a special formulation dramatically improved the accumulation of mebendazole in tumors.1Studenovský M, Rumlerová A et al. HPMA copolymer mebendazole conjugate allows systemic administration and possesses antitumour activity in vivo. Pharmaceutics. 2022 Jun 4;14(6):1201.
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References