The drug fenben, which is an ingredient in dog wormers, has been shown to suppress cancer cells in laboratory tests and mice. It works by stopping the growth of microtubules, which are a building block of every cell. Cancer cells have more of these than normal cells, and so they can grow out of control. The drug can also interfere with the process of glucose uptake, which could stop cancer cells getting their energy from sugar.

A recent study showed that a combination of fenbenazole and a vitamin-rich diet could reduce tumor volume in mice with human lymphoma. The researchers separated the mice into groups that were given either a fenbendazole-only diet, a vitamin-only diet, or a fenbenazole and vitamins combined. After two weeks, the animals' tumors were measured and compared to those of a group that only received the placebo diet. The fenbendazole and vitamin group had significantly smaller tumors than the other groups.

Despite this promising research, there isn't yet sufficient evidence that fenbendazole can cure cancer. As a specialist cancer information nurse at Cancer Research UK explained to Full Fact, there's no way of knowing whether it would be safe or effective until it is tested in humans.

The Full Fact article also pointed out that the fenbendazole-only group didn't have lower white blood cell levels than the other groups. This suggests that the fenbendazole didn't make the immune system more active, which might have prevented the body from attacking the cancer. fenben cancer treatment