In the world of cancer, one treatment has been causing more buzz than others in recent months. A new class of immunotherapy, whose goal is to teach your body’s immune system to seek out and destroy cancer cells, has shown promising results in humans and dogs. But there’s another therapy that is gaining more and more attention—one that takes advantage of a little-known interaction between HER2-positive tumor cells and a common parasitic infection. And surprisingly, the solution may be something you give your dog for fleas and ticks.

The drug in question is fenbendazole, also known by its commercial names Safe Guard, Panacur, and Pro Sense. It’s an anthelmintic, used to treat parasites in animals. There are several studies that have looked at these drugs and others in the same category, called benzimidazole anthelmintics, as possible anticancer agents in humans, but there is not enough evidence to prove they could work.

Joe Tippens shook the medical community when he reported his cancer was cured with a dewormer for dogs, calling his regimen “dog medicine.” He took 25 mg of fenbendazole sublingually (under the tongue) seven days a week and added CBD oil and vitamin E to his routine. He did this for three months, and then had a PET scan. The scan was clear, and he has been cancer free for five years now.

While some cancer researchers, including UPenn’s Mason, are skeptical of this anecdotal case, they’re not dismissing it either. They’re also working on a more clinically validated version of this immunotherapy, with the hope that it could help many more people like Joe Tippens. dog dewormer for cancer