{"entity":{"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","aka":[],"tldr":"An Indian phase 1 trial gave a worm medicine to 11 people with recurrent glioblastoma alongside chemotherapy or re-irradiation, found the dose they could tolerate, and saw anaemia and nausea as the most common side effects.","summary":"Eleven patients with recurrent glioblastoma were enrolled in an accelerated titration design: arm A1 added mebendazole to re-irradiation with concurrent temozolomide, arm B1 to lomustine and arm C1 to temozolomide alone (Reverse swing-M phase 1 2020). The maximum tolerated dose was not reached in arms A1 and C1, giving a recommended phase 2 dose of 1600 mg three times a day, while with lomustine it was 1600 mg three times a day and the recommended dose 800 mg three times a day; the most common adverse events were anaemia in 9 patients, nausea in 7 and fatigue in 6 (Reverse swing-M phase 1 2020).","asOf":"2026-09-24","links":[{"label":"Reverse swing-M phase 1 2020","url":"https://doi.org/10.1002/cam4.3094"},{"label":"PubMed","url":"https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32400117/"}],"tags":[],"related":[],"cancers":["glioblastoma"],"sections":[],"technologies":["drug-repurposing"],"targets":[],"drugs":["mebendazole","temozolomide","lomustine"],"companies":[],"institutions":[],"pathways":[],"terms":["rp2d","dose-escalation-design"],"trials":[],"people":[],"bottlenecks":[],"keyPapers":[],"journals":["cancer-medicine"],"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."},"journal":"Cancer Medicine","year":2020,"doi":"10.1002/cam4.3094","pmid":"32400117","authors":"Patil VM, Bhelekar A, Menon N, et al.","paperType":"translational","findings":["Recommended phase 2 dose 1600 mg three times a day with temozolomide or chemoradiation; 800 mg three times a day with lomustine.","Anaemia 82 percent, nausea 64 percent, fatigue 55 percent."],"whatItMeans":"This is what legitimate repurposing looks like: a registered dose-finding trial that reports its toxicities. It says nothing yet about whether mebendazole helps glioblastoma.","caveats":["Phase 1 with 11 patients; no efficacy endpoint."],"changedPractice":false,"participants":11},"route":"/key-papers/paper-patil-mebendazole-glioma-phase-1-cancer-med-2020/","neighbours":{"cancer":[{"id":"glioblastoma","kind":"cancer","name":"Glioma & glioblastoma","route":"/cancers/glioblastoma/"}],"technology":[{"id":"drug-repurposing","kind":"technology","name":"Systematic drug repurposing","route":"/technologies/drug-repurposing/"}],"drug":[{"id":"lomustine","kind":"drug","name":"Lomustine (CCNU)","route":"/drugs/lomustine/"},{"id":"mebendazole","kind":"drug","name":"Mebendazole","route":"/drugs/mebendazole/"},{"id":"temozolomide","kind":"drug","name":"Temozolomide","route":"/drugs/temozolomide/"}],"term":[{"id":"dose-escalation-design","kind":"term","name":"Dose-escalation designs (3+3, BOIN, dose-expansion)","route":"/terms/dose-escalation-design/"},{"id":"rp2d","kind":"term","name":"Recommended phase 2 dose (RP2D)","route":"/terms/rp2d/"}],"journal":[{"id":"cancer-medicine","kind":"journal","name":"Cancer medicine","route":"/journals/cancer-medicine/"}]}}