Ivermectin belongs to a group of macrolytic lactone drugs called avermectins. It was discovered in 1967 in Japan by fermentation of actinomycete cultures with the fungus Steptomyces avermitilis. It was FDA-approved for humans in 1987. It is listed as an essential medication by the World Health Organization (WHO) to treat parasitic infections. They have widespread use in livestock and in developing countries. Therefore, based on previous research, ivermectin could easily be repurposed as a cancer drug, bypassing years of clinical trials for safety and dosing information in humans.
"In humans, [ivermectin's] use has improved the nutrition, general health and well-being of billions of people worldwide since it was first used to treat onchocerciasis" Juarez et al 2018
There has long been robust evidence attesting to its general safety, even in humans. There is now emerging evidence in the scientific literature that avermectins can be repurposed or redirected to treat other diseases like cancer. Most recently you may have heard it treats SARS-CoV-2 and COVID - the former being a viral infection and the latter being a syndrome caused by the spike proteins on the virus or loaded into the "vaccine".
"Drug repurposing, drug redirecting or drug reprofiling is defined as the identification of novel usages for existing drugs. Both development risks and costs, as well as safety-related failure, are reduced with this approach." Juarez el at 2018
In the past few years, research shows that ivermectin could effectively be repurposed for treatment of many different types of human cancer both in-vitro and in-vivo at doses which can be feasibly achieved. In-vitro, ivermectin has anti-tumor effects against melanoma, human leukemia cells, prostate, human glioblastoma, ovarian, colon, pancreas, breast, lung, and head/neck cancer cell lines. In-vivo, it also has anti-tumor effects against mouse and human leukemia, breast cancer, human glioma, and again glioblastoma, the most aggressive, treatment-resistant cancer. See tables in Juarez et al for dosing information.
Juarez et al., 2018
"There are a number of in vitro and in vivo preclinical studies where ivermectin demonstrates its efficacy against a wide range of malignant conditions, including solid and hematological malignancies...These effects are also reported in cancer cell lines from ovarian, prostate, head and neck, colon, and pancreas, as well as in melanoma. Similar results are also observed in a number of murine cancer cell lines including breast, melanoma and colon." Juarez et al 2018
Some types of cancer respond better than others to ivermectin, and since there is a lot more research on these types, we'll take a closer look in a future post. Ivermectin kills cancerous cells, shrinks tumors, and stops the formation of metastases. It treats these cancers through many biological pathways and mechanisms such as epigenetic regulation, apoptosis of cancer cells, angiogenesis of tumors, reversing tamoxafin resistance, inducing autophagy and mitochondrial disturbance, immunoregulation, etc.
In addition to the ample evidence for melanoma, leukemia, ovarian, breast, brain, pancreatic and colon cancer outlined in the reviews cited below, there is also emerging evidence that ivermectin also treats: renal cell(kidney) carcinoma, urothelial (bladder) carcinoma, cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer), osteosarcoma (bone cancer), hepatocellular (liver) carcinoma, esophogeal squamous cell carcinoma, and gastric cancer.
Will Ivermectin's recent attention in the media help or hinder its repurposing as an anticancer medication?
References:
Huang, H., et al (2021). Progress in Redirecting Antiparasitic Drugs for Cancer Treatment. Drug design, development and therapy, Vol 15, 2747–2767. https://doi.org/10.2147/DDDT.S308973
Juarez M, Schcolnik-Cabrera A, Dueñas-Gonzalez A (2018). The multitargeted drug ivermectin: from an antiparasitic agent to a repositioned cancer drug. American Journal of Cancer Research.Vol 8(issue 2):317-331. PMID: 29511601; PMCID: PMC5835698.
Juarez, M., et al (2020). Antitumor effects of ivermectin at clinically feasible concentrations support its clinical development as a repositioned cancer drug. Cancer chemotherapy and pharmacology, Vol 85(6), 1153–1163. https://doi.org/10.1007/s00280-020-04041-z
Oh! This is interesting! Thanks for this and the references. I never heard about this until now. This is wonderful news if the industrial medical complex would get on board and actually want to help their patients.
If enough people find out about this and ask questions, then they would have to address it rather than ignore it. Reposting.
Thanks for this uplifting news!
You'd think! But MediKatie and I found out long ago that there are plenty of cures for cancer, even the really hard to treat ones, and they will never be endorsed by Big Pharma or their puppets in government. Since 1974 it has been known that cannabinoids like THC and CBD cure many cancers. Nixon did a study to prove cannabis CAUSES cancer, and found the opposite, so he had the study silenced and went ahead with his War on Drugs anyway. It was independently discovered in the 90s by Spanish scientists, but censored heavily to this day, despite being confirmed by hundreds of hospitals and universities around the world. MediKatie and I learned about it more than 10 years ago and have done documentaries on it such as Cannabis CURES Cancer which was properly referenced from reputable studies and totally shadowbanned then deleted from all major platforms. As you know, if Big Pharma can't profit from something, it won't happen. They literally run the Western world. We don't have healthcare, we have sickcare. MediKatie was crippled by multiple unnecessary surgeries, and suffers from severe radiation damage to her organs, because cannabinoids weren't given to her as a child with spinal cancer. We learned in 2010 she could have been saved by safe and effective treatment with cannabis, which is essentially free. Chemo and radiation are a trillion dollar industry. Millions know about this, and have asked questions everywhere possible, but nothing happens. When Ivermectin was demonized and censored by Big Pharma in 2020, we said to each other "it's the same as with cannabis".
Not surprisingly, cannabinoids also prevent SarsCov2 infection and treat Covid19 symptoms, which I tried to tell the world since the start of the plandemic, but was censored and punished for doing so.
We are up against pure evil. With cannabis and Ivermectin, almost all cancer deaths (and most deaths from the other major killers) could be eliminated. We all know people who have died unnecessarily.
Still, you now know the truth, so that's one more person... and that's uplifting indeed! Please pass it on.
How I wish time machine is real so I can go back in 2012 when my brother diagnosed with thalamic glioma. We could have tried this pill, it might prolonged his stay on earth with us or even survived his battle. We have tried every possible advices left and right, but he did not make it. He was being bedridden for 4months and 20 days, gave up his battle on 11-Feb-2013 7 days after his 30th birthday.
I'm sorry for your loss. It's tragic how many lives are lost because of censored information. My research into cannabis as a cancer treatment really opened my eyes to what cures and treatments really are. Big pharma and Hollywood would like to have us believe that there is one cure and soon it will be discovered or invented, but it's not that big of a mystery. Lots of drugs treat cancer; some are illegal, some are legal but censored or denied..yeah it's quite the cover-up.
Cannabis was one of our options since his neuro surgeon already gave up and not even prescribing us a pain reliever because he said it's useless and can't help reduce the pain of this type of cancer. If it's just legal in the Philippines we could have tried cannabis, some of our friends mentioned about the cannabis benefits. We're just being played by these companies.
It's so sad that people are finally given cannabis palliatively once they're on their deathbed. Cannabis should be prescribed immediately, and not just for the pain and nausea but to actually treat it. When we were staying at the Ronald McDonald House in Vancouver to have our son, we met a boy dying of bone cancer. He was given all kinds of hard phamaceuticals for the pain, and even on his deathbed, at 17-years-old, doctors wouldn't even prescribe cannabis for pain. Luckily the parents were on-board with the idea and actually knew somebody who made cannabis, but I don't know if it was too late.
I hope the boy survived. Hoping at least cannabis being legalized in my country.
Yes me too. At the very least I hope the cannabis helped and was enjoyable. Every teenager should have a chance to smoke weed, haha. I wish I had kept in contact with them so I could get updates and also update them on research. I hope your country decriminalizes cannabis.
Very sad that the option was there, but prohibition made it impossible. Shame on all governments who continue to withhold access to these important treatments.
By the way, your love for your brother is clear, and you should be proud of that. You did what you could for him while he was alive, and you still carry that torch. Even if he is not alive on Earth today, let's not lose hope that somehow we may see him again, because I believe we don't fully understand everything. I think he would be proud of you.
Yup, some of our friends mentioned about cannabis but we're just too afraid of the government. We don't know until when they will be blindfolded by their own s**ts.
Thank you so much for that wonderful message. Exactly, we don't really understand everything and yes that's what my mother always telling us, we'll gonna see him again, just pray & believe in God.
Interesting! It's new notoriety will help it in some circles (mine) and hinder it in others.
A very well-researched and properly-referenced article, on an important topic! Thank you for this post.
I like how you make the point that Ivermectin has been safely used in mammals for a very long time, and in humans for decades, meaning if it were repurposed to treat cancers - which it appears to do - the clinical safety trials have already been done. Cancer patients could be legally prescribed this amazing drug, which is both safe and effective, in just weeks or months if the political will existed! But as we've seen in our fight against Big Pharma for many years, cannabinoids are in the same boat and yet remain prohibited, stigmatized, and censored by the medical establishment. Perhaps your coverage will do a small part in helping advance the struggle to recognize and use cheap and powerful medicines against the prevalent scourge of cancer!
Thanks @Drutter! This was a wonderful incidental finding! Not only has the pandemic left cancer patients high and dry, but the vaccine is super-charging cancer. Repurposing a safe and cheap medication bypassing years of clinical trials would be a god-send. How funny that it happens to be a drug that the media is trying to censor because of its ahem other applications. Ivermectin took 20 years to be approved for use in developing countries. The "vaccine" was supposedly created, and then authorized for emergency use which transitioned into pseudo-approval in only a couple of years...and it was forced onto billions of people.