Parasites, Bacteria, and Viruses

Table of Contents

• Address Parasites, Bacteria, and Viruses
• Woman’s grapefruit-size ‘liver cancer’ tumor was actually a parasite
• Some Solutions
• Ivermectin, Mebendazole, and Fenbendazole

Address Parasites, Bacteria, and Viruses

Certain infectious agents, including viruses, bacteria, and parasites, can cause cancer or increase the risk that cancer will form. Some viruses can disrupt signaling that normally keeps cell growth and proliferation in check. Also, some infections weaken the immune system, making the body less able to fight off other cancer-causing infections. – National Cancer Institute

Woman’s grapefruit-size ‘liver cancer’ tumor was actually a parasite

A dull ache in her right ribs led to a grim diagnosis, then a startling discovery.

Feb. 13, 2020, 5:54 PM GMT / Source: TODAY
By A. Pawlowski

At 36, Cassidy Armstrong thought she was facing a death sentence.

After years of vague pain on her right side, scans of her body revealed a grapefruit-size mass growing on her liver, which doctors diagnosed as a rare malignant cancer. It came with a grim prognosis: She was told that even with treatment, she’d likely succumb within a few years.

“I was getting ready for the worst, I was getting ready to die,” Armstrong, who lives in Edmonton, Alberta, told TODAY.

But when the mass was removed last fall and a pathologist looked at it under a microscope, it turned out to be a rare parasite that likely had been growing inside her body for at least a decade. Armstrong still remembers the moment doctors told her the news.

Read the full story on today.com

Some Solutions

Artemesinin

Artemisinin is a sesquiterpene obtained from sweet wormwood (Artemisia annua) which elicits antimalarial, antiparasitic, anti-fungal, antiretroviral, anticancer and anti-schistosomiasis activities. Study

This study involving 23 patients tested the anti-Colorectal Cancer properties of oral artesunate (a derivative of Artemisinin). Patients planned for curative surgery were randomised to receive either 14 daily doses of oral artesunate or placebo. During a median follow up of 42 months, there were 6 recurrences in the placebo group and 1 recurrence in an artesunate recipient. The survival beyond 2 years in the artesunate group is estimated at 91% whilst surviving the first recurrence in the placebo group is only 57%. Laboratory studies show that Artemisinin can target cancer stem cells.

See Artemesinin

Oregano Oil

This study says:
Oil of Mediterranean oregano Oreganum vulgare was orally administered to 14 adult patients whose stools tested positive for enteric parasites, Blastocystis hominis, Entamoeba hartmanni and Endolimax nana. After 6 weeks of supplementation with 600 mg emulsified oil of oregano daily, there was complete disappearance of Entamoeba hartmanni (four cases), Endolimax nana (one case), and Blastocystis hominis in eight cases. Also, Blastocystis hominis scores declined in three additional cases. Gastrointestinal symptoms improved in seven of the 11 patients who had tested positive for Blastocystis hominis.

This study into Origanum vulgaresays:
The findings of this study show that oregano essential oil has the potential to be a powerful antibacterial agent against several strains of Escherichia coli and Staphylococcus aureus. At a concentration of 25%, the oil exhibited substantial antibacterial action, and at concentrations as low as 0.19%, it was able to stop the growth of biofilm. 

Para-Free Plus

Para-Free Plus, has a triple action – it works against parasites, it works against yeasts and it’s a colon cleanse! 
Available at ournaturalselection.com

Ivermectin, Mebendazole, and Fenbendazole

Ivermectin (used to treat various parasitic infestations)
Ivermectin is a broad-spectrum anti-parasitic agent, primarily deployed to combat parasitic worms in veterinary and human medicine. This unprecedented compound has mainly been used in humans as an oral medication for treating filarial diseases but is also effective against other worm-related infections and diseases, plus several parasite-induced epidermal parasitic skin diseases, as well as insect infestations…

…Over the past few years, there have been steadily increasing reports that ivermectin may have varying uses as an anti-cancer agent, as it has been shown to exhibit both anti-cancer and anti-cancer stem cell properties. – The Journal of Antibiotics

Ivermectin and Albendazole.
A European Medicines Agency article contains the following:
EMA’s human medicines committee (CHMP) has adopted a positive scientific opinion for Ivermectin/Albendazole for the treatment of infections caused by several types of worm parasites including lymphatic filariasis, a neglected tropical disease.

Ivermectin/Albendazole is indicated for use in adults, adolescents and children 5 years or older, for the treatment of soil-transmitted helminth infections (STH), caused by different types of intestinal parasitic worms, which are spread through soil contaminated by human faeces in areas with poor sanitation. Among the worms responsible for these diseases are hookworms (Ancylostoma duodenale, Necator americanus), roundworms (Ascaris lumbricoides), whipworms (Trichuris trichiura) and a roundworm called Strongyloides stercoralis.

This medicine is also indicated for the treatment of microfilaraemia (the presence of worm larvae in the blood) in patients with lymphatic filariasis (LF). LF is a neglected tropical disease commonly known as elephantiasis, which impairs the lymphatic system and can lead to the abnormal enlargement of body parts, causing pain, severe disability and social stigma. Ivermectin/Albendazole is indicated for the treatment of cases of lymphatic filariasis caused by Wuchereria bancrofti, a parasite which is responsible for 90% of cases worldwide.

This 2023 study says:
Scientific evidence shows that ivermectin can be safely and effectively administered to children weighing less than 15 kg. Systematic reviews and meta-analyses provide strong support for the efficacy and safety of ivermectin in combating parasitic infections. Ivermectin has proven to be an effective treatment for various parasitic diseases, including intestinal parasites, ectoparasites, filariasis, and onchocerciasis. Dosages ranging from 200 μg/kg to 400 μg/kg are generally safe, with adjustments made according to the specific pathology, patient age, and weight/height.

Ivermectin also has anti-cancer properties

Enhanced the anti-cancer efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs.

This study published in Journal of Experimental & Clinical Cancer Research sought to explore whether ivermectin (IVM), a macrolide antiparasitic agent, could overcome the resistance of cancer cells to the therapeutic drugs…Our results indicated that ivermectin at its very low dose, which did not induce obvious cytotoxicity, drastically reversed the resistance of the tumor cells to the chemotherapeutic drugs both in vitro and in vivo.

These findings demonstrated that ivermectin significantly enhanced the anti-cancer efficacy of chemotherapeutic drugs to tumor cells, especially in the drug-resistant cells. Thus, ivermectin, a FDA-approved antiparasitic drug, could potentially be used in combination with chemotherapeutic agents to treat cancers and in particular, the drug-resistant cancers.

Ovarian cancer

As far back as 2017 an article published in European Pharmaceutical Review reported: Researchers in Japan and the United States have found that ivermectin, a drug used to kill parasites, suppresses tumour development in epithelial ovarian cancer.

Ivermectin exerts an anti-tumour effect on epithelial ovarian cancer (EOC) cells by interacting with the new gene target KPNB1. Because ivermectin is already approved to treat parasitic infections in patients, experiments for its effectiveness in an anti-cancer regimen is expected to significantly lower costs compared to untested drug compounds.

This 2020 study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology says:
Conclusions: It clearly concluded that ivermectin might have new potential for ovarian cancer treatment through regulating energy metabolism pathways. These findings provide more accurate understanding of molecular mechanisms of ovarian cancers and discovery of effective energy-metabolism-heterogeneity-based therapeutic drugs for ovarian cancers.

From a 2022 study published in CureUs

Case presentation

Here, we show three cases successfully treated with a full or partial combination of dichloroacetate, omeprazole (plus tamoxifen), and ivermectin.

Case 1

A 69-year-old female was diagnosed with invasive breast cancer in October 2015. She underwent left breast partial mastectomy, but bone metastases and pleural dissemination appeared. She responded to chemo-endocrine therapy, but it soon became less effective, and intolerable side effects appeared. We gave up conventional therapy and started treatment with dichloroacetate, omeprazole, and tamoxifen from October 2021: weekly use of three tablets of 333 mg dichloroacetate per day (on Day 1), three tablets of 40 mg omeprazole per day (on Day 1), along with a tablet of 20 mg tamoxifen every day. This relieved her symptoms (bone pain, shortness of breath, and general fatigue) instantly but not completely. Hence, we added a tablet of 12 mg ivermectin per day (on Day 1), which stabilized pleural effusion and induced tumor marker reduction…

Case 2

A 54-year-old male was diagnosed with right femur osteosarcoma in February 2021. He underwent neoadjuvant chemotherapy with adriamycin and ifosfamide followed by tumor resection but local recurrence occurred. Although he received chemotherapy with ifosfamide, doxorubicin, and cisplatin, lung lymph node metastases and pleural dissemination appeared. He could not walk out of his house himself because of shortness of breath and severe pain. Since the combination of dichloroacetate, omeprazole, and tamoxifen had not been effective in sarcoma patients in our study, we decided to add ivermectin to them: weekly use of three tables of 333 mg dichloroacetate per day (on Days 1 and 4), three tablets of 40 mg omeprazole tablets per day (on Days 1 and 4), a tablet of 20 mg tamoxifen per day (on Days 1 and 4), along with a tablet of 12 mg ivermectin per day (on Days 1 and 4). After only one cycle, all the symptoms were relieved dramatically, and he could come to our clinic on foot by himself.

Case 3

A 54-year-old male was diagnosed with right lung adenocarcinoma in September 2014 and underwent right lung lobectomy. Although he underwent postoperative chemotherapy, local recurrence with lymph node metastases appeared in one year. Initially, chemotherapy was effective, but gradually, it became less effective and metastases in other sites (bone and brain) appeared. Even after we started the combination therapy with a tablet of 333 mg dichloroacetate every two days, a tablet of 40 mg omeprazole every two days, and a tablet of 12 mg ivermectin per week, his symptoms (cough, shortness of breath, pain, and appetite loss) did not improve. However, soon after we changed our protocol (a tablet of 12 mg ivermectin twice a week), all the symptoms were relieved.

Fenbendazole

Fenbendazole (used to treat various parasitic infestations)

An article on fenbendazole.org says:

Fenbendazole is a versatile medication frequently prescribed to treat parasitic infections in both animals and humans. It’s categorized under the benzimidazole group of drugs. Its primary function is to disrupt the energy-producing processes of the parasites, causing them to perish.

Globally, parasitic infections pose a considerable health challenge, impacting countless people and animals. Common culprits behind these infections include roundworms, hookworms, whipworms, and tapeworms…

Fenbendazole has established its reputation as an effective treatment for gastrointestinal parasites. Its broad-spectrum action against various parasites makes it a cornerstone in managing these infections. Frequently, fenbendazole is recommended for the treatment of various worm-related illnesses, including strongyloidiasis, trichuriasis, and enterobiasis.

Side-effects
Based on toxicology studies, benzimidazoles such as Fenbendazole, Mebendazole or Albendazole seem to be safe drugs.

However, a drug without any side-effects does not exist. Scientific data reports do not reveal significant adverse reactions from taking fenbendazole. Despite the fact, there are anecdotal reports of potential toxicity:

• Up to 5 % of people can experience stomach discomfort or diarrhea when taking large quantities of fenbendazole with no breaks.
• People with severe liver or kidney failure have lower medication excretion rates, therefore, fenbendazole can accumulate and cause unexpected side-effects. Doses should be divided accordingly in this situation.
• When used in large quantities for a long period of time without breaks, fenbendazole can cause an asymptomatic liver enzyme increase due to the fact of the substance being mainly metabolized in the liver. This is reversible with the help of a couple week pause from the medication.

Fenbendazole and Cancer

This 2024 study states:
With its high safety profile, affordability, and minimal side effects, fenbendazole stands out as a potential option for cancer therapy. Moreover, fenbendazole is easy to acquire and can be administered orally, offering a less invasive treatment that can increase patient adherence. Furthermore, by inhibiting glycolysis in cancer cells and preventing lactate buildup, fenbendazole surpasses albendazole and mebendazole in treating drug-resistant cells, making it the benzimidazole of choice for cancer therapy.

Despite numerous success stories using fenbendazole and the extensive research performed in vitro and in vivo, repurposing fenbendazole for cancer treatment remains non-suggested by conventional medical institutions and oncologists. 

Fenben Case Studies

This 2021 study: Fenbendazole Enhancing Anti-Tumor Effect: A Case Series:
Herein we describe the cases of three patients with various genitourinary malignancies who demonstrated complete response after receiving FBZ therapy as a single or supplementary chemotherapeutic agent. In two patient scenarios, they had experienced progression of metastatic disease despite multiple lines of therapy prior to initiation of FBZ. No side effects from FBZ were reported.

Conclusion: FBZ appears to be a potentially safe and effective antineoplastic agent that can be repurposed for human use in treating genitourinary malignancies. Further research is necessary to define the role of FBZ as a chemotherapeutic option.

This 2024 study says:
In summary, we found that FBZ can inhibit proliferation and promote apoptosis of ovarian cancer cells in vitro and inhibit tumor growth in a xenograft ovarian cancer mouse model in vivo…Our work demonstrated that FBZ has therapeutic potential for the treatment of ovarian cancer.

This 2022 study (using (panacur®C and safe-guard®4) says:
In conclusion, our study showed that fenbendazole and its analog 6 can effectively restrict the growth of cervical cancer HeLa cells in vitro and in vivo, without severe toxic side effects. Our study demonstrated that fenbendazole and its analog 6 could activate the ROS-P38-MAPK signaling pathway in HeLa cells to initiate the expression of apoptotic genes, thereby promoting apoptosis and inhibiting cell proliferation.

This Review Article says:
In summary, antiparasitic drugs are involved in almost all aspects of tumors, including cell cycle, apoptosis, autophagy, ferroptosis, stress, energy homeostasis, immunity, and drug resistance. Besides, when used in combination with existing clinical tumor drugs, many antiparasitic drugs show significant synergistic effects. However, according to current research results, antiparasitic drugs are still far from being repurposed into antitumor drugs that can be widely used in clinical practice…Nevertheless, it is undeniable that antiparasitic drugs indeed have great potential for development as broad-spectrum, clinically applicable antitumor drugs.

Mebendazole

Mebendazole (used to treat various parasitic infestations)

This National Library of Medicine article says:
Mebendazole is a typical, broad-spectrum benzimidazole used for more than 40 years in humans to treat various parasitic infestations. It has FDA approval for the treatment of patients greater than two years of age with gastrointestinal infections caused by Necator americanus or Ancylostoma duodenale (hookworms),  Ascaris lumbricoides (roundworms),  Enterobius vermicularis (pinworms), and Trichuris trichiura (whipworms) in single or mixed infections.

Mebendazole is a new purposed drug in oncology with a focus on cells resistant to approved therapies. Mebendazole exhibits cytotoxic activity, which synergizes with ionizing radiations and different chemotherapeutic agents and stimulating an antitumoral immune response. Recent studies have shown mebendazole is also a better replacement for vincristine to treat brain tumors in animal models.

This is from a 2023 study:
Mebendazole is used extensively for treatment of local gut helminthic and invasive echinococcus infections. Anticancer effects of mebendazole have been shown in experimental cancer models and in case studies in patients with advanced cancer. 

This is from a 2023 study:
Mebendazole can penetrate the blood–brain barrier and has been shown to inhibit the malignant progression of glioma by targeting signaling pathways related to cell proliferation, apoptosis, or invasion/migration, or by increasing the sensitivity of glioma cells to conventional chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Moreover, several preclinical models and ongoing clinical trials explore the efficacy of Mebendazole in multiple cancers, including acute myeloid leukemia, brain cancer, oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, breast cancer, gastrointestinal cancer, lung carcinoma, adrenocortical carcinoma, prostate cancer, and head and neck cancer.

Mebendazole and cancer

This Research Article published in Clinical Cancer Research says:
We have found that mebendazole (MZ), a derivative of benzimidazole, induces a dose- and time-dependent apoptotic response in human lung cancer cell lines. In this study, MZ arrested cells at the G₂-M phase before the onset of apoptosis, as detected by using fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis. MZ treatment also resulted in mitochondrial cytochrome c release, followed by apoptotic cell death. Additionally, MZ appeared to be a potent inhibitor of tumor cell growth with little toxicity to normal WI38 and human umbilical vein endothelial cells. When administered p.o. to nu/nu mice, MZ strongly inhibited the growth of human tumor xenografts and significantly reduced the number and size of tumors in an experimental model of lung metastasis. In assessing angiogenesis, we found significantly reduced vessel densities in MZ-treated mice compared with those in control mice. These results suggest that MZ is effective in the treatment of cancer and other angiogenesis-dependent diseases.

This is from a 2023 study:
Mebendazole can penetrate the blood–brain barrier and has been shown to inhibit the malignant progression of glioma by targeting signaling pathways related to cell proliferation, apoptosis, or invasion/migration, or by increasing the sensitivity of glioma cells to conventional chemotherapy or radiotherapy. Moreover, several preclinical models and ongoing clinical trials explore the efficacy of Mebendazole in multiple cancers, including acute myeloid leukemia, brain cancer, oropharyngeal squamous cell carcinoma, breast cancer, gastrointestinal cancer, lung carcinoma, adrenocortical carcinoma, prostate cancer, and head and neck cancer.

This case study from 2011
A 48-year-old man with adrenocortical carcinoma [cancer originating in the cortex of the adrenal gland] had disease progression with systemic therapies including mitotane, 5-fluorouracil, streptozotocin, bevacizumab, and external beam radiation therapy. Treatment with all chemotherapeutic drugs was ceased, and he was prescribed mebendazole, 100 mg twice daily, as a single agent. His metastases initially regressed and subsequently remained stable. While receiving mebendazole as a sole treatment for 19 months, his disease remained stable. He did not experience any clinically significant adverse effects, and his quality of life was satisfactory. His disease subsequently progressed after 24 months of mebendazole monotherapy.

Conclusion: Mebendazole may achieve long-term disease control of metastatic adrenocortical carcinoma. It is well tolerated and the associated adverse effects are minor.

Case report
A 74-year-old man with metastatic colon cancer who did not respond to standard therapy, was considered for further treatment at Department of Oncology, Uppsala University Hospital.

In this situation with no standard therapy left, the drug screen observation in mind, the recent preclinical fi nding of antitumour effects of mebendazole in a mice model [3] and a case report indicating antitumour effect from mebendazole in a patient with metastatic adrenocortical carcinoma [4], the patient, after informed consent, started mebendazole at the standard antihelmintic dose of 100 mg twice daily, to be continued for six weeks. The patient experienced no adverse effects from the treatment and at CT evaluation May 2013 there was near complete remission of the metastases in the lungs and lymph nodes and a good partial remission in the liver (Figure 1). At this stage, the liver enzymes AST and ALT were found elevated up to fi ve and seven times above upper limit of normal and mebendazole was temporarily stopped and then reintroduced at half dose. Liver enzymes slowly decreased and the patient still reported no adverse effects from mebendazole. The disease was stable at a new CT, confirming the response observed earlier. The patient is now on drug holiday, pending a new CT.

Where can I get these treatments?

If you are unable to source Ivermectin, Fenbendazole, or Mebendazole please email tommy@cancerireland.ie

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