The Medical Advisor

Abstract Cancer continues to pose a significant global health burden, particularly with the rise of aggressive and treatment-resistant malignancies such as triple-negative breast cancer, pancreatic adenocarcinoma, and glioblastoma. In response to the limitations of current therapies, there is growing interest in the repurposing of antiparasitic agents—specifically fenbendazole, mebendazole, and ivermectin—for oncological applications. This review synthesizes recent preclinical and emerging clinical evidence on the anticancer mechanisms and therapeutic potential of these drugs. Fenbendazole, a benzimidazole compound, demonstrates anticancer activity through microtubule destabilization, cell cycle arrest, and inhibition of glucose metabolism, though its clinical application is challenged by poor solubility and bioavailability. Mebendazole, a structurally related benzimidazole with better human pharmacokinetics, similarly disrupts microtubule function and induces apoptosis, showing effic...

Natural killer (NK) cells, a specific type of white blood cell, are an important component of your innate immune system. Your immune system consists of two different branches — cell-mediated immunity (innate) and humoral immunity (adaptive). When you contract a viral disease, the pathogen enters your body and infects your cells. NK cell for cancer immunotherapy The subsequent disease process involves your cell-mediated immune response, which activates your NK cells, along with chemicals that attract them to the site of infection, where the white blood cells basically chew up and spit out the infected cells. This process clears the virus and rejuvenates the gel-like water inside your cells. During recovery, your humoral immune system kicks in and starts generating antibodies against the virus to help prevent the same kind of disease process and symptoms from occurring again, should you be exposed to the same virus later on. As long as your cell-mediated immune system is activated firs...