CoChat
Sign Up
Cited by 130Synthesis and biological activityBioactive Compounds and Antitumor AgentsCancer therapeutics and mechanisms

The Antitumor Potentials of Benzimidazole Anthelmintics as Repurposing Drugs

Open access
Son, Deok-Soo, Lee, Eun-Sook, Adunyah, Samuel E.·2020·Immune Network
DOI 10.4110/in.2020.20.e29PMC PMC7458798
Open this paper in CoChat — free account

Abstract

The development of refractory tumor cells limits therapeutic efficacy in cancer by activating mechanisms that promote cellular proliferation, migration, invasion, metastasis, and survival. Benzimidazole anthelmintics have broad-spectrum action to remove parasites both in human and veterinary medicine. In addition to being antiparasitic agents, benzimidazole anthelmintics are known to exert anticancer activities, such as the disruption of microtubule polymerization, the induction of apoptosis, cell cycle (G2/M) arrest, anti-angiogenesis, and blockage of glucose transport. These antitumorigenic effects even extend to cancer cells resistant to approved therapies and when in combination with conventional therapeutics, enhance anticancer efficacy and hold promise as adjuvants. Above all, these anthelmintics may offer a broad, safe spectrum to treat cancer, as demonstrated by their long history of use as antiparasitic agents. The present review summarizes central literature regarding the anticancer effects of benzimidazole anthelmintics, including albendazole, parbendazole, fenbendazole, mebendazole, oxibendazole, oxfendazole, ricobendazole, and flubendazole in cancer cell lines, animal tumor models, and clinical trials. This review provides valuable information on how to improve the quality of life in patients with cancers by increasing the treatment options and decreasing side effects from conventional therapy.

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.4110/in.2020.20.e29

Cites

6 of 6 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • FBZ has shown potential in both in vitro and in vivo models of cancer.

    “FBZ has shown potential in both in vitro and in vivo models of cancer, as evidenced by studies such as those conducted by Song et al. [2].”

    From Fenbendazole as an Anticancer Agent? A Case Series of Self-Administration in Three Patients. (2025) · cites this paper as Song et al. [2]

    The sections on cancer cells and animal tumor models report fenbendazole’s effects in vitro and reduced tumor weight in mice, supporting its potential in both types of model. However, this source is a review reporting those studies, not an original experimental study conducted by “Song et al.”; it also reports animal models in which fenbendazole had no effect. (LLM, conf=0.86)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Benzimidazoles, including FBZ, have been shown to affect cancer stem cells.

    “Beyond targeting primary cancer cells, benzimidazoles, including FBZ, have been shown to affect cancer stem cells [2, 3].”

    From Fenbendazole as an Anticancer Agent? A Case Series of Self-Administration in Three Patients. (2025) · cites this paper as [2]

    The antitumorigenic-effects section reports that benzimidazole anthelmintics inhibited stemness and reduced stem-like cell subpopulations. The cited stemness finding concerns flubendazole, however; the passages about fenbendazole (FBZ) do not establish an effect on cancer stem cells. The indexed copy provides no page number for these passages. (LLM, conf=0.85)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Preclinical studies suggest that FBZ exerts anticancer effects through a wide variety of mechanisms.

    “Preclinical studies suggest that FBZ exerts its anticancer effects through a wide variety of mechanisms.”

    From Fenbendazole as an Anticancer Agent? A Case Series of Self-Administration in Three Patients. (2025) · cites this paper as [2]

  • Mebendazole suppresses tumor growth in various cancer cell lines and animal models through inhibition of microtubule polymerization.

    “MBZ has been shown to potentially suppress tumor growth in various cancer cell lines and animal models through the inhibition of microtubule polymerization”

    From Drug repurposing for cancer therapy (2024) · cites this paper as [157]

  • Albendazole and mebendazole have been repositioned as promising anti-cancer drugs.

    “It is of particular note that albendazole and mebendazole have been repositioned as promising anti-cancer drugs.”

    From Albendazole and Mebendazole as Anti-Parasitic and Anti-Cancer Agents: an Update (2021) · cites this paper as [35]

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

Research works printed but not linked: 108

  1. [1]Furtado LFV de Paiva Bello ACP Rabelo ÉML Benzimidazole resistance in helminths: from problem to diagnosis Acta Trop 2016 162 95 102 27338184
  2. [2]Friedman PA Platzer EG Interaction of anthelmintic benzimidazoles with Ascaris suum embryonic tubulin Biochim Biophys Acta 1980 630 271 278 7388055
  3. [3]Cleeland CS Allen JD Roberts SA Brell JM Giralt SA Khakoo AY Kirch RA Kwitkowski VE Liao Z Skillings J Reducing the toxicity of cancer therapy: recognizing needs, taking action Nat Rev Clin Oncol 2012 9 471 478 22751283
  4. [4]Tang Y Liang J Wu A Chen Y Zhao P Lin T Zhang M Xu Q Wang J Huang Y Co-delivery of trichosanthin and albendazole by nano-self-assembly for overcoming tumor multidrug-resistance and metastasis ACS Appl Mater Interfaces 2017 9 26648 26664 28741923
  5. [6]Lai SR Castello SA Robinson AC Koehler JW In vitro anti-tubulin effects of mebendazole and fenbendazole on canine glioma cells Vet Comp Oncol 2017 15 1445 1454 28078780
  6. [7]Marslin G Siram K Liu X Khandelwal VKM Xiaolei S Xiang W Franklin G Solid lipid nanoparticles of albendazole for enhancing cellular uptake and cytotoxicity against U-87 MG glioma cell lines Molecules 2017 22 2040 PMC6150363 29165384
  7. [8]Bai RY Staedtke V Aprhys CM Gallia GL Riggins GJ Antiparasitic mebendazole shows survival benefit in 2 preclinical models of glioblastoma multiforme Neuro Oncol 2011 13 974 982 21764822 PMC3158014
  8. [9]Kipper FC Silva AO Marc AL Confortin G Junqueira AV Neto EP Lenz G Vinblastine and antihelmintic mebendazole potentiate temozolomide in resistant gliomas Invest New Drugs 2018 36 323 331 28852916
  9. [10]Markowitz D Ha G Ruggieri R Symons M Microtubule-targeting agents can sensitize cancer cells to ionizing radiation by an interphase-based mechanism Onco Targets Ther 2017 10 5633 5642 29200877 PMC5703169
  10. [12]Larsen AR Bai RY Chung JH Borodovsky A Rudin CM Riggins GJ Bunz F Repurposing the antihelmintic mebendazole as a hedgehog inhibitor Mol Cancer Ther 2015 14 3 13 25376612 PMC4297232
  11. [13]Skibinski CG Williamson T Riggins GJ Mebendazole and radiation in combination increase survival through anticancer mechanisms in an intracranial rodent model of malignant meningioma J Neurooncol 2018 140 529 538 30414098 PMC6387633
  12. [14]Michaelis M Agha B Rothweiler F Löschmann N Voges Y Mittelbronn M Starzetz T Harter PN Abhari BA Fulda S Identification of flubendazole as potential anti-neuroblastoma compound in a large cell line screen Sci Rep 2015 5 8202 25644037 PMC4314641
  13. [15]Liu H Sun H Zhang B Liu S Deng S Weng Z Zuo B Yang J He Y 18F-FDG PET imaging for monitoring the early anti-tumor effect of albendazole on triple-negative breast cancer Breast Cancer 2020 27 372 380 31781983
  14. [16]Zhang L Bochkur Dratver M Yazal T Dong K Nguyen A Yu G Dao A Bochkur Dratver M Duhachek-Muggy S Bhat K Mebendazole potentiates radiation therapy in triple-negative breast cancer Int J Radiat Oncol Biol Phys 2019 103 195 207 30196056 PMC6457649
  15. [17]Oh E Kim YJ An H Sung D Cho TM Farrand L Jang S Seo JH Kim JY Flubendazole elicits anti-metastatic effects in triple-negative breast cancer via STAT3 inhibition Int J Cancer 2018 143 1978 1993 29744876
  16. [18]Zhang L Guo M Li J Zheng Y Zhang S Xie T Liu B Systems biology-based discovery of a potential Atg4B agonist (Flubendazole) that induces autophagy in breast cancer Mol Biosyst 2015 11 2860 2866 26299935
  17. [19]Hou ZJ Luo X Zhang W Peng F Cui B Wu SJ Zheng FM Xu J Xu LZ Long ZJ Flubendazole, FDA-approved anthelmintic, targets breast cancer stem-like cells Oncotarget 2015 6 6326 6340 25811972 PMC4467440
  18. [20]Kim YJ Sung D Oh E Cho Y Cho TM Farrand L Seo JH Kim JY Flubendazole overcomes trastuzumab resistance by targeting cancer stem-like properties and HER2 signaling in HER2-positive breast cancer Cancer Lett 2018 412 118 130 29080749
  19. [21]Coyne CP Jones T Bear R Gemcitabine-(C4-amide)-[anti-HER2/neu] anti-neoplastic cytotoxicity in dual combination with mebendazole against chemotherapeutic-resistant mammary adenocarcinoma J Clin Exp Oncol 2013 2 1000109 26251840 PMC4531380
  20. [22]Belaz KR Denadai M Almeida AP Lima RT Vasconcelos MH Pinto MM Cass QB Oliveira RV Enantiomeric resolution of albendazole sulfoxide by semipreparative HPLC and in vitro study of growth inhibitory effects on human cancer cell lines J Pharm Biomed Anal 2012 66 100 108 22487592
  21. [23]Mrkvová Z Uldrijan S Pombinho A Bartůněk P Slaninová I Benzimidazoles downregulate Mdm2 and MdmX and activate p53 in MdmX overexpressing tumor cells Molecules 2019 24 2152 PMC6600429 31181622
  22. [24]Zanganeh S Khosravi S Namdar N Amiri MH Gharooni M Abdolahad M Electrochemical approach for monitoring the effect of anti tubulin drugs on breast cancer cells based on silicon nanograss electrodes Anal Chim Acta 2016 938 72 81 27619088
  23. [25]Shashaani H Faramarzpour M Hassanpour M Namdar N Alikhani A Abdolahad M Silicon nanowire based biosensing platform for electrochemical sensing of Mebendazole drug activity on breast cancer cells Biosens Bioelectron 2016 85 363 370 27196254
  24. [26]Taranejoo S Janmaleki M Pachenari M Seyedpour SM Chandrasekaran R Cheng W Hourigan K Dual effect of F-actin targeted carrier combined with antimitotic drug on aggressive colorectal cancer cytoskeleton: allying dissimilar cell cytoskeleton disrupting mechanisms Int J Pharm 2016 513 464 472 27662804
  25. [27]Priotti J Baglioni MV García A Rico MJ Leonardi D Lamas MC Menacho Márquez M Repositioning of anti-parasitic drugs in cyclodextrin inclusion complexes for treatment of triple-negative breast cancer AAPS PharmSciTech 2018 19 3734 3741 30255471
  26. [28]Duan Q Liu Y Booth CJ Rockwell S Use of fenbendazole-containing therapeutic diets for mice in experimental cancer therapy studies J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci 2012 51 224 230 22776123 PMC3314526
  27. [29]Duan Q Liu Y Rockwell S Fenbendazole as a potential anticancer drug Anticancer Res 2013 33 355 362 23393324 PMC3580766
  28. [30]Spagnuolo PA Hu J Hurren R Wang X Gronda M Sukhai MA Di Meo A Boss J Ashali I Beheshti Zavareh R The antihelmintic flubendazole inhibits microtubule function through a mechanism distinct from Vinca alkaloids and displays preclinical activity in leukemia and myeloma Blood 2010 115 4824 4833 20348394
  29. [31]Králová V Hanušová V Staňková P Knoppová K Čáňová K Skálová L Antiproliferative effect of benzimidazole anthelmintics albendazole, ricobendazole, and flubendazole in intestinal cancer cell lines Anticancer Drugs 2013 24 911 919 23884106
  30. [32]Hanušová V Skálová L Králová V Matoušková P The effect of flubendazole on adhesion and migration in SW480 and SW620 colon cancer cells Anticancer Agents Med Chem 2018 18 837 846 29237383
  31. [33]Králová V Hanušová V Rudolf E Čáňová K Skálová L Flubendazole induces mitotic catastrophe and senescence in colon cancer cells in vitro J Pharm Pharmacol 2016 68 208 218 26730435
  32. [34]Lin S Yang L Yao Y Xu L Xiang Y Zhao H Wang L Zuo Z Huang X Zhao C Flubendazole demonstrates valid antitumor effects by inhibiting STAT3 and activating autophagy J Exp Clin Cancer Res 2019 38 293 31287013 PMC6615228
  33. [35]Williamson T Bai RY Staedtke V Huso D Riggins GJ Mebendazole and a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory combine to reduce tumor initiation in a colon cancer preclinical model Oncotarget 2016 7 68571 68584 27612418 PMC5356574
  34. [37]Ehteda A Galettis P Chu SW Pillai K Morris DL Complexation of albendazole with hydroxypropyl-β-cyclodextrin significantly improves its pharmacokinetic profile, cell cytotoxicity and antitumor efficacy in nude mice Anticancer Res 2012 32 3659 3666 22993303
  35. [38]Dogra N Mukhopadhyay T Impairment of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway by methyl N-(6-phenylsulfanyl-1H-benzimidazol-2-yl)carbamate leads to a potent cytotoxic effect in tumor cells: a novel antiproliferative agent with a potential therapeutic implication J Biol Chem 2012 287 30625 30640 22745125 PMC3436308
  36. [39]Pourgholami MH Akhter J Wang L Lu Y Morris DL Antitumor activity of albendazole against the human colorectal cancer cell line HT-29: in vitro and in a xenograft model of peritoneal carcinomatosis Cancer Chemother Pharmacol 2005 55 425 432 15565325
  37. [40]Zhang X Zhao J Gao X Pei D Gao C Anthelmintic drug albendazole arrests human gastric cancer cells at the mitotic phase and induces apoptosis Exp Ther Med 2017 13 595 603 28352336 PMC5348670
  38. [41]Pinto LC Soares BM Pinheiro JJ Riggins GJ Assumpção PP Burbano RM Montenegro RC The anthelmintic drug mebendazole inhibits growth, migration and invasion in gastric cancer cell model Toxicol In Vitro 2015 29 2038 2044 26315676
  39. [42]Pinto LC Mesquita FP Soares BM da Silva EL Puty B de Oliveira EHC Burbano RR Montenegro RC Mebendazole induces apoptosis via C-MYC inactivation in malignant ascites cell line (AGP01) Toxicol In Vitro 2019 60 305 312 31207347
  40. [43]Celestino Pinto L de Fátima Aquino Moreira-Nunes C Soares BM Burbano RMR de Lemos JAR Montenegro RC Mebendazole, an antiparasitic drug, inhibits drug transporters expression in preclinical model of gastric peritoneal carcinomatosis Toxicol In Vitro 2017 43 87 91 28606429
  41. [44]Ghasemi F Black M Vizeacoumar F Pinto N Ruicci KM Le CC Lowerison MR Leong HS Yoo J Fung K Repurposing albendazole: new potential as a chemotherapeutic agent with preferential activity against HPV-negative head and neck squamous cell cancer Oncotarget 2017 8 71512 71519 29069723 PMC5641066
  42. [45]Zhang F Li Y Zhang H Huang E Gao L Luo W Wei Q Fan J Song D Liao J Anthelmintic mebendazole enhances cisplatin's effect on suppressing cell proliferation and promotes differentiation of head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC) Oncotarget 2017 8 12968 12982 28099902 PMC5355070
  43. [46]Wang LJ Lee YC Huang CH Shi YJ Chen YJ Pei SN Chou YW Chang LS Non-mitotic effect of albendazole triggers apoptosis of human leukemia cells via SIRT3/ROS/p38 MAPK/TTP axis-mediated TNF-α upregulation Biochem Pharmacol 2019 162 154 168 30414389
  44. [47]Li Y Thomas D Deutzmann A Majeti R Felsher DW Dill DL Mebendazole for differentiation therapy of acute myeloid leukemia identified by a lineage maturation index Sci Rep 2019 9 16775 31727951 PMC6856101
  45. [48]Blom K Senkowski W Jarvius M Berglund M Rubin J Lenhammar L Parrow V Andersson C Loskog A Fryknäs M The anticancer effect of mebendazole may be due to M1 monocyte/macrophage activation via ERK1/2 and TLR8-dependent inflammasome activation Immunopharmacol Immunotoxicol 2017 39 199 210 28472897
  46. [49]Khalilzadeh A Wangoo KT Morris DL Pourgholami MH Epothilone-paclitaxel resistant leukemic cells CEM/dEpoB300 are sensitive to albendazole: Involvement of apoptotic pathways Biochem Pharmacol 2007 74 407 414 17560963
  47. [50]Kang BS Lee SE Ng CL Kim JK Park JS Exploring the preparation of albendazole-loaded chitosan-tripolyphosphate nanoparticles Materials (Basel) 2015 8 486 498 28787952 PMC5455285
  48. [51]Younis NS Ghanim AMH Saber S Mebendazole augments sensitivity to sorafenib by targeting MAPK and BCL-2 signalling in n-nitrosodiethylamine-induced murine hepatocellular carcinoma Sci Rep 2019 9 19095 31836811 PMC6911098
  49. [52]Pourgholami MH Woon L Almajd R Akhter J Bowery P Morris DL In vitro and in vivo suppression of growth of hepatocellular carcinoma cells by albendazole Cancer Lett 2001 165 43 49 11248417
  50. [53]Shimomura I Yokoi A Kohama I Kumazaki M Tada Y Tatsumi K Ochiya T Yamamoto Y Drug library screen reveals benzimidazole derivatives as selective cytotoxic agents for KRAS-mutant lung cancer Cancer Lett 2019 451 11 22 30862488
  51. [54]Zhou F Du J Wang J Albendazole inhibits HIF-1α-dependent glycolysis and VEGF expression in non-small cell lung cancer cells Mol Cell Biochem 2017 428 171 178 28063005
  52. [55]Dogra N Kumar A Mukhopadhyay T Fenbendazole acts as a moderate microtubule destabilizing agent and causes cancer cell death by modulating multiple cellular pathways Sci Rep 2018 8 11926 30093705 PMC6085345
  53. [56]Sasaki J Ramesh R Chada S Gomyo Y Roth JA Mukhopadhyay T The anthelmintic drug mebendazole induces mitotic arrest and apoptosis by depolymerizing tubulin in non-small cell lung cancer cells Mol Cancer Ther 2002 1 1201 1209 12479701
  54. [57]Mukhopadhyay T Sasaki J Ramesh R Roth JA Mebendazole elicits a potent antitumor effect on human cancer cell lines both in vitro and in vivo Clin Cancer Res 2002 8 2963 2969 12231542
  55. [58]Xu D Tian W Jiang C Huang Z Zheng S The anthelmintic agent oxfendazole inhibits cell growth in non‑small cell lung cancer by suppressing c-Src activation Mol Med Rep 2019 19 2921 2926 30720086
  56. [59]Patel K Doudican NA Schiff PB Orlow SJ Albendazole sensitizes cancer cells to ionizing radiation Radiat Oncol 2011 6 160 22094106 PMC3231941
  57. [60]Kralova V Hanušová V Caltová K Špaček P Hochmalová M Skálová L Rudolf E Flubendazole and mebendazole impair migration and epithelial to mesenchymal transition in oral cell lines Chem Biol Interact 2018 293 124 132 30075109
  58. [61]Pillai K Akhter J Morris DL Super aqueous solubility of albendazole in β-cyclodextrin for parenteral application in cancer therapy J Cancer 2017 8 913 923 28529602 PMC5436242
  59. [62]Pourgholami MH Wangoo KT Morris DL Albendazole-cyclodextrin complex: enhanced cytotoxicity in ovarian cancer cells Anticancer Res 2008 28 2775 2779 19035309
  60. [63]Noorani L Stenzel M Liang R Pourgholami MH Morris DL Albumin nanoparticles increase the anticancer efficacy of albendazole in ovarian cancer xenograft model J Nanobiotechnology 2015 13 25 25890381 PMC4409778
  61. [64]Pourgholami MH Cai ZY Badar S Wangoo K Poruchynsky MS Morris DL Potent inhibition of tumoral hypoxia-inducible factor 1alpha by albendazole BMC Cancer 2010 10 143 20398289 PMC2873385
  62. [65]Pourgholami MH Yan Cai Z Lu Y Wang L Morris DL Albendazole: a potent inhibitor of vascular endothelial growth factor and malignant ascites formation in OVCAR-3 tumor-bearing nude mice Clin Cancer Res 2006 12 1928 1935 16551879
  63. [66]Hettiarachchi G Samanta SK Falcinelli S Zhang B Moncelet D Isaacs L Briken V Acyclic cucurbit[n]uril-type molecular container enables systemic delivery of effective doses of albendazole for treatment of SK-OV-3 xenograft tumors Mol Pharm 2016 13 809 818 26756920 PMC4783263
  64. [67]Chu SW Badar S Morris DL Pourgholami MH Potent inhibition of tubulin polymerisation and proliferation of paclitaxel-resistant 1A9PTX22 human ovarian cancer cells by albendazole Anticancer Res 2009 29 3791 3796 19846910
  65. [68]Florio R Veschi S di Giacomo V Pagotto S Carradori S Verginelli F Cirilli R Casulli A Grassadonia A Tinari N The benzimidazole-based anthelmintic parbendazole: a repurposed drug candidate that synergizes with gemcitabine in pancreatic cancer Cancers (Basel) 2019 11 11 PMC6966614 31861153
  66. [69]Chen H Weng Z Xu C Albendazole suppresses cell proliferation and migration and induces apoptosis in human pancreatic cancer cells Anticancer Drugs 2020 31 431 439 32044795
  67. [70]Rushworth LK Hewit K Munnings-Tomes S Somani S James D Shanks E Dufès C Straube A Patel R Leung HY Repurposing screen identifies mebendazole as a clinical candidate to synergise with docetaxel for prostate cancer treatment Br J Cancer 2020 122 517 527 31844184 PMC7028732
  68. [71]Chen Q Li Y Zhou X Li R Oxibendazole inhibits prostate cancer cell growth Oncol Lett 2018 15 2218 2226 29434928 PMC5776919
  69. [72]Zhang QL Lian DD Zhu MJ Li XM Lee JK Yoon TJ Lee JH Jiang RH Kim CD Antitumor effect of albendazole on cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) cells BioMed Res Int 2019 2019 3689517 31281836 PMC6590486
  70. [73]Čáňová K Rozkydalová L Vokurková D Rudolf E Flubendazole induces mitotic catastrophe and apoptosis in melanoma cells Toxicol In Vitro 2018 46 313 322 29107018
  71. [74]Doudican NA Byron SA Pollock PM Orlow SJ XIAP downregulation accompanies mebendazole growth inhibition in melanoma xenografts Anticancer Drugs 2013 24 181 188 23059386
  72. [75]Simbulan-Rosenthal CM Dakshanamurthy S Gaur A Chen YS Fang HB Abdussamad M Zhou H Zapas J Calvert V Petricoin EF The repurposed anthelmintic mebendazole in combination with trametinib suppresses refractory NRASQ61K melanoma Oncotarget 2017 8 12576 12595 28157711 PMC5355037
  73. [76]Li Y Acharya G Elahy M Xin H Khachigian LM The anthelmintic flubendazole blocks human melanoma growth and metastasis and suppresses programmed cell death protein-1 and myeloid-derived suppressor cell accumulation Cancer Lett 2019 459 268 276 31128215
  74. [77]Doudican N Rodriguez A Osman I Orlow SJ Mebendazole induces apoptosis via Bcl-2 inactivation in chemoresistant melanoma cells Mol Cancer Res 2008 6 1308 1315 18667591
  75. [78]Williamson T Mendes TB Joe N Cerutti JM Riggins GJ Mebendazole inhibits tumor growth and prevents lung metastasis in models of advanced thyroid cancer Endocr Relat Cancer 2020 27 123 136 31846433
  76. [79]Martarelli D Pompei P Baldi C Mazzoni G Mebendazole inhibits growth of human adrenocortical carcinoma cell lines implanted in nude mice Cancer Chemother Pharmacol 2008 61 809 817 17581752
  77. [80]Sawanyawisuth K Williamson T Wongkham S Riggins GJ Effect of the antiparasitic drug mebendazole on cholangiocarcinoma growth Southeast Asian J Trop Med Public Health 2014 45 1264 1270 26466412
  78. [81]Sung SJ Kim HK Hong YK Joe YA Autophagy is a potential target for enhancing the anti-angiogenic effect of mebendazole in endothelial cells Biomol Ther (Seoul) 2019 27 117 125 30642153 PMC6319545
  79. [82]Hassanpour M Rezabakhsh A Pezeshkian M Rahbarghazi R Nouri M Distinct role of autophagy on angiogenesis: highlights on the effect of autophagy in endothelial lineage and progenitor cells Stem Cell Res Ther 2018 9 305 30409213 PMC6225658
  80. [83]Kardideh B Samimi Z Norooznezhad F Kiani S Mansouri K Autophagy, cancer and angiogenesis: where is the link? Cell Biosci 2019 9 65 31428311 PMC6693242
  81. [84]Bhutia SK Mukhopadhyay S Sinha N Das DN Panda PK Patra SK Maiti TK Mandal M Dent P Wang XY Autophagy: cancer's friend or foe? Adv Cancer Res 2013 118 61 95 23768510 PMC4349374
  82. [85]Mandhair HK Arambasic M Novak U Radpour R Molecular modulation of autophagy: New venture to target resistant cancer stem cells World J Stem Cells 2020 12 303 322 32547680 PMC7280868
  83. [86]Görgülü K Diakopoulos KN Kaya-Aksoy E Ciecielski KJ Ai J Lesina M Algül H The role of autophagy in pancreatic cancer: from bench to the dark bedside Cells 2020 9 1063 PMC7226443 32344698
  84. [87]Tan Z Chen L Zhang S Comprehensive modeling and discovery of mebendazole as a novel TRAF2- and NCK-interacting kinase inhibitor Sci Rep 2016 6 33534 27650168 PMC5030704
  85. [88]Shitashige M Satow R Jigami T Aoki K Honda K Shibata T Ono M Hirohashi S Yamada T Traf2- and Nck-interacting kinase is essential for Wnt signaling and colorectal cancer growth Cancer Res 2010 70 5024 5033 20530691
  86. [89]Walker JC Harland RM microRNA-24a is required to repress apoptosis in the developing neural retina Genes Dev 2009 23 1046 1051 19372388 PMC2682950
  87. [90]Sun Y Yu X Bai Q miR-204 inhibits invasion and epithelial-mesenchymal transition by targeting FOXM1 in esophageal cancer Int J Clin Exp Pathol 2015 8 12775 12783 26722467 PMC4680412
  88. [91]Rubin J Mansoori S Blom K Berglund M Lenhammar L Andersson C Loskog A Fryknäs M Nygren P Larsson R Mebendazole stimulates CD14+ myeloid cells to enhance T-cell activation and tumour cell killing Oncotarget 2018 9 30805 30813 30112108 PMC6089388
  89. [92]Bai RY Staedtke V Wanjiku T Rudek MA Joshi A Gallia GL Riggins GJ Brain penetration and efficacy of different mebendazole polymorphs in a mouse brain tumor model Clin Cancer Res 2015 21 3462 3470 25862759 PMC4526400
  90. [93]Bai RY Staedtke V Rudin CM Bunz F Riggins GJ Effective treatment of diverse medulloblastoma models with mebendazole and its impact on tumor angiogenesis Neuro-oncol 2015 17 545 554 25253417 PMC4483072
  91. [94]Choi EK Kim SW Nam EJ Paek J Yim GW Kang MH Kim YT Differential effect of intraperitoneal albendazole and paclitaxel on ascites formation and expression of vascular endothelial growth factor in ovarian cancer cell-bearing athymic nude mice Reprod Sci 2011 18 763 771 21421899
  92. [95]Pourgholami MH Szwajcer M Chin M Liauw W Seef J Galettis P Morris DL Links M Phase I clinical trial to determine maximum tolerated dose of oral albendazole in patients with advanced cancer Cancer Chemother Pharmacol 2010 65 597 605 19904538
  93. [96]Nygren P Larsson R Drug repositioning from bench to bedside: tumour remission by the antihelmintic drug mebendazole in refractory metastatic colon cancer Acta Oncol 2014 53 427 428 24160353
  94. [97]Dobrosotskaya IY Hammer GD Schteingart DE Maturen KE Worden FP Mebendazole monotherapy and long-term disease control in metastatic adrenocortical carcinoma Endocr Pract 2011 17 e59 e62 21454232
  95. [98]Morris DL Jourdan JL Pourgholami MH Pilot study of albendazole in patients with advanced malignancy. Effect on serum tumor markers/high incidence of neutropenia Oncology 2001 61 42 46 11474247
  96. [100]Albendazole LiverTox: Clinical and Research Information on Drug-Induced Liver Injury Bethesda, MD National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases 2012 31643176
  97. [102]Pawluk SA Roels CA Wilby KJ Ensom MH A review of pharmacokinetic drug-drug interactions with the anthelmintic medications albendazole and mebendazole Clin Pharmacokinet 2015 54 371 383 25691367
  98. [103]Mebendazole LiverTox: Clinical and Research Information on Drug-Induced Liver Injury Bethesda, MD National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases 2012 31643176
  99. [105]Capece BP Virkel GL Lanusse CE Enantiomeric behaviour of albendazole and fenbendazole sulfoxides in domestic animals: pharmacological implications Vet J 2009 181 241 250 19124257
  100. [106]Villar D Cray C Zaias J Altman NH Biologic effects of fenbendazole in rats and mice: a review J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci 2007 46 8 15 17994667
  101. [107]Gonzalez AE Codd EE Horton J Garcia HH Gilman RH Oxfendazole: a promising agent for the treatment and control of helminth infections in humans Expert Rev Anti Infect Ther 2019 17 51 56 30501436 PMC6376865
  102. [108]Čáňová K Rozkydalová L Rudolf E Anthelmintic flubendazole and its potential use in anticancer therapy Acta Med (Hradec Kralove) 2017 60 5 11 28399389
  103. [109]Theodorides VJ DiCuollo CJ Nawalinski T Miller CR Murphy JR Freeman JF Killeen JC Jr Rapp WR Toxicologic and teratologic studies of oxibendazole in ruminants and laboratory animals Am J Vet Res 1977 38 809 814 560153
  104. [110]Al-Hadiya BM Parbendazole Profiles Drug Subst Excip Relat Methodol 2010 35 263 284 22469223
  105. [111]Sánchez S Alvarez L Sallovitz J Lanusse C Enhanced plasma and target tissue availabilities of albendazole and albendazole sulphoxide in fasted calves: evaluation of different fasting intervals J Vet Pharmacol Ther 2000 23 193 201 11126322
  106. [112]Movahedi F Li L Gu W Xu ZP Nanoformulations of albendazole as effective anticancer and antiparasite agents Nanomedicine (Lond) 2017 12 2555 2574 28954575
  107. [114]Eckardt K Kaltenhäuser J Kilb C Seiler A Stahlmann R Relative potency of albendazole and its sulfoxide metabolite in two in vitro tests for developmental toxicity: the rat whole embryo culture and the mouse embryonic stem cell test Reprod Toxicol 2012 34 378 384 22652462
  108. [115]Navarro M Canut L Carretero A Cristofol C Pérez-Aparicio FJ Arboix M Ruberte J Developmental toxicity in rat fetuses exposed to the benzimidazole netobimin Reprod Toxicol 1999 13 295 302 10453914

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Son, D.-S., Lee, E.-S., & Adunyah, S. E.
Affiliations
  • Meharry Medical College (US)
  • Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University (US)
Corresponding author
Son, Deok-Soo
ORCID
Venue
Immune Network
Publisher
XMLink
Published
2020
Volume
20
Issue
4
Pages
e29-e29
ISSN
  • 1598-2629 (ISSN-L)
  • 2092-6685
DOI
10.4110/in.2020.20.e29
PMC
PMC7458798
OpenAlex
W3047494211
Cited by
130
References
6
Citations by year
2026: 11 · 2025: 21 · 2024: 26 · 2023: 22 · 2022: 30 · 2021: 19 · 2020: 1
FWCI
1.39
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • Immune Network (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by-nc)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
Funders
National Institutes of Health (NCI SC1CA200519, U54CA163069, RCMI 5U54AMD007586, R01ES024756, NIH S21MD000104)
Topics
  • Physical Sciences › Chemistry › Organic Chemistry › Synthesis and biological activity
  • Life Sciences › Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics › Toxicology › Bioactive Compounds and Antitumor Agents
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Molecular Biology › Cancer therapeutics and mechanisms
Keywords
benzimidazole anthelmintics, drug repurposing, anticancer activity, albendazole, parbendazole, fenbendazole, mebendazole, oxibendazole, oxfendazole, ricobendazole, flubendazole, microtubule polymerization inhibition, apoptosis, G2/M cell cycle arrest, angiogenesis inhibition, glucose transport inhibition, drug resistance, combination therapy, adjuvant therapy

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review