Ivermectin for cancer
Ivermectin (repurposed / topical) for skin lesions & cancer. Cancer. Reviewed Jul 2026.
Lab and mouse data plus uncontrolled case reports, no controlled human trial, and self-treating melanoma risks a fatal delay.
What it is
Off-patent antiparasitic being explored as a repurposed anti-tumor agent. Preclinical work shows it inhibits Wnt/β-catenin signaling, induces apoptosis, and targets cancer stem cells across several tumor lines. Circulating claims that 1%/1.87% topical ivermectin makes basal cell, squamous cell and melanoma lesions 'dry up and fall off' come from uncontrolled case reports and self-treatment testimonials.
The evidence
Real preclinical anti-tumor data (in vitro / mouse); effective lab concentrations often exceed what's safely achievable in humans. Human skin-cancer evidence = uncontrolled case series / testimonials, almost always combined with other agents (black salve, methylene blue, mebendazole) — can't isolate ivermectin. No controlled human trial. FDA-approved topically only for rosacea/demodex. Melanoma caveat (biological, not regulatory): it metastasizes — a surface lesion regressing says nothing about micrometastases, so self-treating melanoma at home risks fatal delay. Basal cell (slow, ~never metastasizes) is lower-stakes. Not medical advice; monitoring entry, not an endorsement to self-dose.
What you can do today
Not available for this use, and years away if it arrives at all. Anything sold today with this claim is not backed by human evidence for it.
Sources
- Coverage, not a sourcex.com
No primary paper or registry record is linked for this entry yet. The evidence summary names the studies it relies on.
Change history
No ladder moves or corrections logged for this entry yet. Changes are dated on the change log.
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