A controversial anti-worming drug that was thrust into the spotlight during the Covid-19 pandemic after right-leaning doctor groups promoted unfounded claims that it cured the virus is now under scrutiny for its potential to treat cancer.

Ivermectin, a drug that treats parasitic infections in people and livestock, is the latest focus at the National Cancer Institute, the world’s preeminent cancer research center that is part of the National Institutes of Health. 

The NCI, headed by President Donald Trump appointee Dr Anthony Letai, did not cite new evidence to support this hypothesis when he announced the new endeavor.

‘There are enough reports of it, enough interest in it, that we actually did — ivermectin, in particular — did engage in sort of a better preclinical study of its properties and its ability to kill cancer cells,’ Letai said at a January event with NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya and other senior agency officials.

Bhattacharya said at the same event: ‘If lots of people believe it and it’s moving public health, we as NIH have an obligation, again, to treat it seriously.’ 

Not present at the event was Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F Kennedy Jr, a long-time Covid vaccine skeptic who has pushed the claim that an unhealthy government–Big Pharma alliance suppressed ivermectin simply because it isn't profitable.

In laboratory studies, ivermectin has been shown in cell cultures to kill cancer cells and suppress tumors. But there is currently no reliable clinical evidence from human trials to support its use as an effective cancer treatment.

In the rest of his comments at the NIH event last month, Letai appeared to temper expectations for the drug, saying at one point, ‘It’s not going to be a cure-all for cancer,’ and adding later that even if there are signals of anti-cancer properties in the preclinical studies, ‘I can tell you again, it’s not a really strong signal.’

But, he quickly noted, ‘this doesn’t rule out… individual reports of people having taken it that had a response to their cancer. This doesn’t invalidate their personal experience.’

Ivermectin surged in popularity during the Covid pandemic when fringe medical experts touted its ability – despite a lack of clinical evidence – to alleviate the symptoms of the virus and speed up recovery. 

Since then, right-leaning influencers have hyped its ability to cure a range of ailments in addition to Covid, from cancer and lupus to autism and renal failure. 

None of these claims has been clinically proven, nor are they guaranteed safe.  

Without the guidance of a doctor, people taking ivermectin may overdose. Ivermectin is dosed by body weight, and formulas intended for livestock have much higher concentrations of the drug than formulations FDA-approved for humans. 

They might also not know about important drug interactions, particularly with antidepressants and benzodiazepines as well as blood thinners. 

Ivermectin can cause dangerous and even dreadful side effects when misused or taken without medical supervision. These include neurotoxicity, such as seizures, coma and altered consciousness, as well as liver and kidney damage, severe skin reactions and life-threatening drug interactions.  

Letai did not specify whether the research is being carried out by NCI scientists or funded by an external institution. About 75 percent of the cancer institute’s research budget is allocated to investigators outside the agency.

Jeffery Edenfield, executive medical director of oncology for South Carolina-based Prisma Health Cancer Institute, told Stat: ‘Many, many, many things work in a test tube. Quite a few things work in a mouse or a monkey. It still doesn’t mean it’s going to work in people.’

With the help of high-profile fans, ivermectin has become a flash point in the medical field.

RFK Jr, followers of the MAHA movement and certain conservative commentators have pushed the narrative that the government and pharmaceutical companies suppressed ivermectin and other low-cost, off-patent drugs simply because they do not generate enough profit for the industry. 

One NCI scientist, who chose to remain anonymous, told Stat: ‘I am shocked and appalled. We are moving funds away from so much promising research in order to do a preclinical study based on nonscientific ideas. It’s absurd.’

Ivermectin is FDA-approved to treat conditions caused by parasitic worms as well as head lice and skin conditions such as rosacea in specially formulated and dosed products.

Doctors at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in Ohio detailed a story in an open letter in the journal Pediatric Blood & Cancer of a teenage patient with metastatic bone cancer who took ivermectin ‘after encountering social media posts touting its benefits.’ 

The patient had been taking his standard doctor-prescribed medication to keep the cancer stable, as well as several doses of ivermectin on their own without the guidance of a doctor over the course of five days.

He stopped eating, became very drowsy, nauseous and developed severe kidney problems, leading to hospitalization. 

Doctors said he presented to the hospital in ‘an altered state… attributed to ivermectin-related neurotoxicity.’ His symptoms improved once he stopped taking the ivermectin.

Experts believe a drug interaction between ivermectin and the patient’s cancer medication may have made the reaction worse.

Doctors who wrote the letter said: ‘This report aims to raise awareness of medical misinformation often directed at vulnerable patients in the oncology community. Ivermectin is just one contemporary example.’