# The multitargeted drug ivermectin: from an antiparasitic agent to a repositioned cancer drug

Source: https://onco.cc/key-papers/paper-juarez-ivermectin-repositioned-cancer-drug-2018/  
OnCo record `paper-juarez-ivermectin-repositioned-cancer-drug-2018` (Key paper). Data CC BY-NC 4.0, attribute "Data from OnCo (onco.cc)"; commercial use needs a licence.

## TL;DR

A 2018 review that gathered the cell-culture and animal experiments on ivermectin and argued it was ready for cancer trials; those trials began five years later and have not reported.

## Summary

The review summarises in vitro and in vivo experiments in which ivermectin acted on multidrug resistance protein, Akt/mTOR and WNT-TCF signalling, purinergic receptors, PAK1, the SIN3A and SIN3B epigenetic regulators, RNA helicase and chloride channels, and on cancer stem-like cells (Juarez review 2018). It argues that the concentrations used are reachable in people on the basis of pharmacokinetic studies in healthy and parasite-infected volunteers, and that this could allow a rapid move into trials (Juarez review 2018).

## Fields

- Kind: Key paper
- Last checked: 2026-09-24
- Journal: American Journal of Cancer Research
- Year: 2018
- Authors: Juarez M, Schcolnik-Cabrera A, Dueñas-Gonzalez A.
- Findings: Laboratory evidence only: cell lines and animal models across several cancer types.; Argues that anticancer concentrations are clinically reachable, on pharmacokinetic grounds, not on any patient data.
- What it means: This is the paper the online claims usually trace back to. It is a call for trials, not evidence that the drug works in people, and the trials it called for are still running.
- Caveats: No human efficacy data existed when it was written and none has been published since.; The concentration argument has not been tested in a cancer patient.

## Sources

- Juarez review 2018: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC5835698/
- PubMed: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29511601/

## Connected records

- technologies: [Fenbendazole, ivermectin and other internet 'repurposed cures'](https://onco.cc/technologies/fenbendazole-ivermectin-repurposing-claims/), [Systematic drug repurposing](https://onco.cc/technologies/drug-repurposing/)
- drugs: [Ivermectin](https://onco.cc/drugs/ivermectin/)
- terms: [In vitro and in vivo](https://onco.cc/terms/in-vitro-in-vivo/), [Preclinical](https://onco.cc/terms/preclinical/)

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