The cancer epidemic is killing people and pets like never before, and pharmaceutical medicine remains at a loss to find a cure. In desperation, many patients are turning to unconventional methods of treatment that promise results that have doctors shaking their heads and raising eyebrows. One such method is fenbendazole, which is sold as the over-the-counter medication Panacur for dogs and cats to rid their stomachs of parasites. A rumor that fenbendazole has anti-cancer effects has gained traction online, with thousands of users buying the drug in bulk.

In a 2019 video, Joe Tippens, an Oklahoma man diagnosed with small-cell lung cancer, claimed to be completely free of the disease after taking fenbendazole. He credited his survival to the dog dewormer, which he says he took after a TikTok post by a veterinarian went viral on social media.

Since then, a plethora of Facebook posts and TikTok videos have surfaced, claiming that fenbendazole can be used to treat cancer in humans. These claims have received millions of views.

But a close look at the evidence shows that fenbendazole has no anti-cancer properties in humans. The medication does have the ability to prevent microtubules from growing properly in cancer cells, but researchers say that it is unlikely that this would be an effective cancer therapy for people. Even if it did, it would not work the same way in humans as it does in animals. For this reason, it’s important for cancer patients to seek care from their doctors instead of trying at-home remedies. dog dewormer cancer