While immunotherapy drugs like checkpoint inhibitors and CAR T cells are garnering attention for their ability to retrain the body’s immune system to fight cancer, other researchers have found more surprising ways of spurring the human immune response. One method, which involves a dog dewormer, has been touted by a Canadian veterinarian on TikTok and Facebook, as well as in more traditional, peer-reviewed scientific magazines.
This anthelmintic, sold as Panacur C and other generic brands, is used to treat parasites in animals and has been shown to kill cancer cells in animal studies, but it does not have FDA approval for human cancer treatment. Some peer-reviewed research has suggested it may have promise as a human cancer drug, but further study is needed.
After being told that his melanoma, which had spread to his organs and bones, would be incurable, Joe Tippens took a chance and signed up for a clinical trial. Doctors figured the trial would only give him a year to live, at best. But they also said it could help him meet his grandson.
Rather than undergoing chemotherapy, which would have made him very sick and less likely to meet his family, he started taking what he calls the “dog dewormer protocol.” The regimen, which is now used by many cancer patients, includes fenbendazole, along with vitamin E, CBD oil and curcumin. While the skeptics are still around, Tippens is thriving and cancer free. He has even seen his first grandchild. dog dewormer for cancer