Fenben lab fenbendazole is a broad-spectrum benzimidazole anthelmintic that has been approved for use in many animal species. The anthelmintic activity of this drug has been attributed to its ability to disrupt microtubules and to cause cell death.1 Several recent studies have shown that fenbendazole has antitumor activity in vivo and in vitro. The chemical structure of fenbendazole resembles that of compounds known to act as radiosensitizers.2 The current study was designed to test whether fenbendazole is able to enhance the radiation response of human lymphoma cells and to determine whether fenbendazole has the potential to become a radiosensitizer in vivo.
Human lymphoma xenografts grown in SCID mice were treated with various combinations of fenbendazole and irradiation. The growth of the tumors was measured in the untreated, fenbendazole-only, fenbendazole plus irradiation, and control groups. The results showed that both irradiation and fenbendazole were able to inhibit tumor growth, with the effects of the fenbendazole-plus-irradiation treatment being greater than those of either fenbendazole or irradiation alone.
In contrast, no tumors grew in mice that were treated with the fenbendazole-only diet, which was administered in the same manner as the irradiation and fenbendazole-plus-irradiation treatments. The lack of an effect may have been due to a deterioration in vitamin concentrations in the study diet that occurred over time. This is a common problem encountered with prepared diets, as they often have expiration dates that exceed those of the mice they are intended for. fenben lab fenbendazol