Mebendazole as a Candidate for Drug Repurposing in Oncology: An Extensive Review of Current Literature.
Level 5 - mechanism / opinion, no new human data
Narrative review summarizing in vitro and animal in vivo preclinical studies without new human data.
PubMed 31480477 · doi:10.3390/cancers11091284
What was done
This narrative review synthesized current literature on repurposing the anthelmintic drug mebendazole for oncology, focusing on its effects in treatment-resistant tumor cells and cancer stem cells across preclinical in vitro and in vivo models.
What was found
The abstract reports no numerical data. It notes that in vitro studies show mebendazole inhibits tubulin polymerization, angiogenesis, pro-survival pathways, matrix metalloproteinases, and multidrug resistance transporters, while promoting cytotoxicity, antitumoral immune responses, and synergy with radiation and chemotherapy. In vivo models showed reduced or arrested tumor growth, reduced metastasis, and improved survival.
Why it matters
It outlines the biological rationale and multimodal mechanisms for repurposing an established, low-cost, off-patent drug with a known safety profile to overcome therapy resistance in cancer.
Limits
The review relies primarily on preclinical in vitro and animal models, reporting no quantitative metrics or human clinical trial efficacy and safety data in the abstract. Methodological details regarding review search strategy and study selection were not described.
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