Investigation 007
What the Slide Cannot Say
Three parasites cause cancer. Nobody is checking for a fourth.
Antiparasitic drugs
Ivermectin
Avermectins came out of one soil sample near a Japanese golf course and won a Nobel. The cancer claim is a real preclinical signal with no human trial behind it.
What we are reading
Gathered for the investigation and not yet written up. Each note says what the paper does and does not show.
- Robalino KN, Vivanco-Galván O, Romero-Benavides JC, Jiménez-Gaona Y. Ivermectin as an Alternative Anticancer Agent: A Review of Its Chemical Properties and Therapeutic Potential.10.3390/ph18101459 · PMID 41155573
Review. States plainly that despite preclinical evidence, clinical validation remains limited. A PubMed search for human ivermectin cancer trials returned zero results on 2026-09-16.
- Hu B, Tan H, Yu L, Liao Q, Guo W. Repurposing Ivermectin to augment chemotherapy's efficacy in osteosarcoma.10.1177/09603271221143693 · PMID 36503300
Cell lines and mouse xenograft. Synergy with doxorubicin. Preclinical only — this is the shape of the whole literature.
- Bhadra S, Xu YJ. TTT (Tel2-Tti1-Tti2) Complex, the Co-Chaperone of PIKKs and a Potential Target for Cancer Chemotherapy.10.3390/ijms24098268 · PMID 37175973
The best answer to 'but what would it even DO?' Ivermectin binds TEL2, part of the TTT complex, which is the chaperone that folds a family of very large kinases — ATR, ATM, DNA-PKcs, mTOR, SMG1, TRRAP — the machinery of DNA-damage response and growth signalling. A HUMAN TARGET, not a worm one. That is a plausible anticancer mechanism, and it is a long way from a plausible mechanism to a treatment.
- Hayashi A, Kamio K, Miyanaga A, Yoshida K, Noro R, Matsuda K, Tozuka T, Omori M, Hirao M, Fukuizumi A, Hisakane K, Takeuchi S, Matsumoto M, Kasahara K, Amano T, Honda K, Seike M. Ivermectin Enhances Paclitaxel Efficacy by Overcoming Resistance Through Modulation of ABCB1 in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer.10.21873/anticanres.17355 · PMID 39626921
The most interesting preclinical result, because it is not about killing cells. A549 lung cancer cells made resistant to paclitaxel did it by overexpressing P-glycoprotein, the pump that throws chemotherapy back out of the cell. Giving ivermectin alongside the escalating paclitaxel ABOLISHED that P-glycoprotein induction, so the drug stayed inside and the cells never became resistant. If ivermectin has a real place in oncology, resistance-prevention alongside chemotherapy is a better hypothesis than tumour-killing on its own.
- Shukla A, Sharma A, Gupta S, Mishra A, Singh A. Antitumor potential of ivermectin against T-cell lymphoma-bearing hosts.10.1007/s12032-025-02726-0 · PMID 40257544
Representative of the preclinical literature, and useful for the number that matters. Ivermectin killed lymphoma cells with an IC50 of 10.55 micrograms per millilitre; cisplatin managed 8.32 in the same assay. The catch is the one nobody quotes: ordinary human dosing produces plasma levels of roughly 0.02-0.05 micrograms per millilitre. The concentration that kills cancer cells in a dish is two to three ORDERS OF MAGNITUDE above what a person taking ivermectin achieves. That gap is the entire story of this drug in oncology.
- Sheir MM, El-Habashy SE, Sheta E, Nasra MMA, Abdallah OY. Biomimetic platelet-membrane camouflaged ivermectin nanocrystals for tumor homing and breast cancer management.10.1007/s13346-025-02032-2 · PMID 41495333
What serious pharmacologists do about that gap: they stop giving it as a tablet. Ivermectin nanocrystals wrapped in platelet membrane to home to tumour and evade immune clearance, active against triple-negative breast cancer in mice. Note what the authors say plainly in their own opening — repurposing ivermectin is 'hindered by poor solubility and HIGH TOXICITY, restricting its parenteral administration'. The people most invested in this drug's anticancer future are the ones building whole delivery systems to avoid giving it the way people are buying it.
- Expression of Concern [regarding Hulscher et al., Real-world Clinical Outcomes of Ivermectin and Mebendazole in Cancer Patients: Results from a Prospective Observational Cohort].10.21873/anticanres.18276 · PMID 42300708
The single most important document for this node, and it must be read on air. In 2026 Anticancer Research published a cohort reporting an 84.4% 'Clinical Benefit Ratio' for ivermectin and mebendazole in cancer patients. The journal then issued a formal Expression of Concern and opened a Post-Publication Data Integrity and Ethical Oversight Audit — examining whether IRB approval existed, whether the 197 participants' baseline cancer diagnoses can be source-verified, and whether the reported tumour regressions have objective medical documentation. The editorial board's sentence is the one to quote: 'Disclosing limitations does not exempt a clinical dataset from the foundational scientific requirements of empirical verifiability and independent ethical oversight.' This is what the strongest 'real-world evidence' for ivermectin in cancer currently amounts to.
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