{"entity":{"id":"mebendazole","kind":"drug","name":"Mebendazole","aka":["Vermox","MBZ"],"tldr":"Mebendazole is a human worm medicine that has been through two very small cancer trials: a dose-finding study in brain tumours found a tolerable dose, and a study in advanced bowel and stomach cancers saw every patient's cancer keep growing.","summary":"Reverse swing-M, a phase 1 study of 11 patients with recurrent glioblastoma, added mebendazole to re-irradiation with temozolomide, to lomustine or to temozolomide alone, and set a recommended phase 2 dose of 1600 mg three times a day with temozolomide and 800 mg three times a day with lomustine, with anaemia in 82 percent and nausea in 64 percent the most common adverse events (Reverse swing-M phase 1 2020). A phase 2a study in treatment-refractory gastrointestinal cancer treated 10 of 11 enrolled patients with individually dosed mebendazole up to 4 g a day, saw no severe adverse effects, and stopped every patient for progressive disease by the eight-week scan, four of them meeting suggested criteria for hyperprogression (Mebendazole phase 2a 2021). A telemedicine cohort of 197 patients prescribed compounded ivermectin with mebendazole reported self-assessed benefit, and the journal has placed an expression of concern on the paper while it audits the data (Anticancer Research expression of concern 2026). Combined ivermectin and benzimidazole prescribing to US cancer patients rose 2.6-fold after a January 2025 podcast (Rockwell JAMA Network Open 2026).","status":"phase-2","asOf":"2026-09-24","wikipedia":"https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mebendazole","links":[{"label":"Reverse swing-M phase 1 2020","url":"https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.3094"},{"label":"Mebendazole phase 2a 2021","url":"https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-88433-y"},{"label":"Anticancer Research expression of concern 2026","url":"https://doi.org/10.21873/anticanres.18276"},{"label":"Rockwell JAMA Network Open 2026","url":"https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2026.16780"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":["glioblastoma"],"sections":[],"technologies":["fenbendazole-ivermectin-repurposing-claims","drug-repurposing"],"targets":[],"drugs":["ivermectin","fenbendazole","temozolomide","lomustine"],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":["rp2d","off-label","preclinical"],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":["b-generic-repurposing","b-misinformation"],"keyPapers":["paper-patil-mebendazole-glioma-phase-1-cancer-med-2020","paper-mansoori-mebendazole-gi-cancer-phase-2a-sci-rep-2021","paper-hulscher-ivermectin-mebendazole-cohort-anticancer-res-2026"],"journals":[],"dependsOn":[],"notes":[],"provenance":{"editedBy":"OnCo agent (Claude Fable 5.1)","editedOn":"2026-09-24","note":"Written from cached ClinicalTrials.gov v2, Europe PMC, DailyMed, Drugs@FDA and WHO eEML responses; no figure appears without its source link."},"modality":"Oral benzimidazole anthelmintic for human worm infections, tested in two small cancer trials","mechanism":"Binds tubulin and blocks microtubule assembly in worms. In glioma and other cancer cell lines the same effect stops cell division; that is laboratory evidence, and the two human studies below are the clinical record.","approvals":[],"mechanismSteps":[],"toxicity":[],"access":[],"regulatoryEvents":[]},"route":"/drugs/mebendazole/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"glioblastoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Glioma & glioblastoma","route":"/cancers/glioblastoma/"}],"technology":[{"id":"fenbendazole-ivermectin-repurposing-claims","kind":"technology","name":"Fenbendazole, ivermectin and other internet 'repurposed cures'","route":"/technologies/fenbendazole-ivermectin-repurposing-claims/"},{"id":"drug-repurposing","kind":"technology","name":"Systematic drug repurposing","route":"/technologies/drug-repurposing/"}],"drug":[{"id":"fenbendazole","kind":"drug","name":"Fenbendazole (veterinary anthelmintic)","route":"/drugs/fenbendazole/"},{"id":"ivermectin","kind":"drug","name":"Ivermectin","route":"/drugs/ivermectin/"},{"id":"lomustine","kind":"drug","name":"Lomustine (CCNU)","route":"/drugs/lomustine/"},{"id":"temozolomide","kind":"drug","name":"Temozolomide","route":"/drugs/temozolomide/"}],"term":[{"id":"off-label","kind":"term","name":"Off-label","route":"/terms/off-label/"},{"id":"preclinical","kind":"term","name":"Preclinical","route":"/terms/preclinical/"},{"id":"rp2d","kind":"term","name":"Recommended phase 2 dose (RP2D)","route":"/terms/rp2d/"}],"bottleneck":[{"id":"b-misinformation","kind":"bottleneck","name":"Misinformation and unproven therapies","route":"/bottlenecks/b-misinformation/"},{"id":"b-generic-repurposing","kind":"bottleneck","name":"No incentive to repurpose cheap drugs","route":"/bottlenecks/b-generic-repurposing/"}],"paper":[{"id":"paper-mansoori-mebendazole-gi-cancer-phase-2a-sci-rep-2021","kind":"paper","name":"A phase 2a clinical study on the safety and efficacy of individualized dosed mebendazole in patients with advanced gastrointestinal cancer","route":"/key-papers/paper-mansoori-mebendazole-gi-cancer-phase-2a-sci-rep-2021/"},{"id":"paper-guilford-antiparasitic-acupuncture-meridian-case-series-2026","kind":"paper","name":"Cancer therapy using antiparasitic medications guided by acupuncture meridian assessment: a case series of six patients","route":"/key-papers/paper-guilford-antiparasitic-acupuncture-meridian-case-series-2026/"},{"id":"paper-rockwell-ivermectin-benzimidazole-prescribing-jama-netw-open-2026","kind":"paper","name":"Ivermectin-benzimidazole prescribing following celebrity endorsement","route":"/key-papers/paper-rockwell-ivermectin-benzimidazole-prescribing-jama-netw-open-2026/"},{"id":"paper-hulscher-ivermectin-mebendazole-cohort-anticancer-res-2026","kind":"paper","name":"Real-world clinical outcomes of ivermectin and mebendazole in cancer patients: results from a prospective observational cohort (with 2026 expression of concern)","route":"/key-papers/paper-hulscher-ivermectin-mebendazole-cohort-anticancer-res-2026/"},{"id":"paper-patil-mebendazole-glioma-phase-1-cancer-med-2020","kind":"paper","name":"Reverse swing-M, phase 1 study of repurposing mebendazole in recurrent high-grade glioma","route":"/key-papers/paper-patil-mebendazole-glioma-phase-1-cancer-med-2020/"}],"trial":[{"id":"nct02366884","kind":"trial","name":"Atavistic chemotherapy: combinations of antibacterial, antifungal and antiprotozoal drugs in advanced cancer (Arguello clinic, status unknown)","route":"/trials/nct02366884/"}]}}