Ivermectin outperforms chemotherapy in breast cancer treatment, study finds

Research out of Mexico has uncovered another use for ivermectin than just getting rid of parasites and coronaviruses.

It turns out that ivermectin is also an effective remedy against cancer. Research dating back to 1996 shows a link between the two, with more recent research published in 2017 showing that ivermectin is an inhibitor of cancer stem cells.

While tumor growth is generally driven by so-called bulk tumor cells, there is another subpopulation of cells within cancer tumors that present a stem cell phenotype. As such, these cells are referred to in the scientific literature as "cancer stem-like cells" or CSCs.

What makes cancer stem-like cells such a threat is the fact that they have unlimited self-renew properties, meaning they just keep reproducing endlessly. This is how many severe cancers take over a person's body and lay it waste, often very quickly depending on the type.

Back in 2009, researchers from MIT and Harvard found that salinomycin, another antiparasitic drug, helps to reduce breast cancer stem cells by more than 100-fold compared to the chemotherapy drug paclitaxel (Taxol). Salinomycin also inhibited the growth of breast tumors, the research team found.

Building upon this earlier research, scientists from Mexico City in the more recent study from 2017 looked for the molecule most resembling salinomycin. They probed 1,623 compounds, only to learn that the one responsible for destroying cancer cells is none other than ivermectin.

"Ivermectin preferentially inhibits the viability of cancer stem cell-enriched populations compared with the total cell population," their research states. "The opposite pattern was observed with paclitaxel treatment."

(Related: In order for ivermectin to work at its best, one must take the drug with high-fat foods for maximum absorption.)

Ivermectin decreases expression of "stemness genes" expressed in cancer stem cells

Another thing ivermectin does, according to the newer research, is prevent three different "stemness genes" from expressing themselves. These stemness genes are highly expressed in cancer stem cells, and by inhibiting their expression, ivermectin makes it a lot harder for cancer tumors to grow and spread.

In their conclusion, the Mexican scientists declared that, based on everything they looked at, ivermectin preferentially targets the stem cell population in MDA-MB-231 human breast cancer cells, which are what they studied.

"Ivermectin has been demonstrated to be safe, following treatment of millions of patients with onchocerciasis and other parasitic diseases, which makes it a strong candidate for further studies investigating its potential use as a repurposed drug for cancer therapy," the study further concludes.

All in all, ivermectin was found to work significantly better – up to 100-fold and with no serious side effects – than chemotherapy drugs. The drug selectively targets the cancer stem cells that not only interfere with conventional cancer treatments but also drive metastasis and breast cancer recurrence.

"Bottom line: Every advanced breast cancer patient should get ivermectin to eliminate cancer stem cells and reduce the risks of treatment failure, metastases and recurrence," tweeted Dr. William Makis, M.D., about the discovery.

"So why don't they? I think we all know the answer."

Keep in mind that mammograms only make the problem worse by smashing open the cancer lumps. This causes the parasites to get released and "go wild," which in turn leads to serious cancer diagnoses.

"Ivermectin is proving to be an extraordinary drug with a wide range of potential benefits beyond its traditional uses," someone wrote in response to Dr. Makis' post.

"The research on its effectiveness against cancer stem cells, particularly when combined with other treatments like fenbendazole or menbendazole, is compelling. It's remarkable how a drug that's been around for decades continues to reveal its versatility and potential in treating serious conditions like cancer."

Learn more about how to deal with cancer alternatively at Cancer.news.

Sources and References:

1. X.com (MakisMD)
2. NaturalNews.com 
3. https://www.newstarget.com/2024-09-05-ivermectin-outperforms-chemo-breast-cancer-treatment-study.html
4. Fenbendazole, Ivermectin and Mebendazole for Breast Cancer Success Stories: 47 Case Reports (2025 One Day MD)
5. Combination Therapies for Breast Cancer: Lower Doses, Higher Efficacy  (2025 ASCO Annual Meeting)
6. Utidelone Plus Bevacizumab for ERBB2-Negative Metastatic Breast Cancer and Active Brain Metastases (June 2025 JAMA)
7. A phase I/II study evaluating the safety and efficacy of ivermectin in combination with balstilimab in patients with metastatic triple negative breast cancer. (2025 ASCO Annual Meeting)
8. Clinical outcomes of patients with stage I triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) treated with or without chemotherapy: The Mayo Clinic experience.  (2025 ASCO Annual Meeting)
9. Merck’s Keytruda Combined with Gilead’s Trodelvy Reduces Breast Cancer Risk by 35% in Clinical Trial. (2025 ASCO Annual Meeting)
10. Sacituzumab govitecan (SG) + pembrolizumab (pembro) vs chemotherapy (chemo) + pembro in previously untreated PD-L1–positive advanced triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC): Primary results from the randomized phase 3 ASCENT-04/KEYNOTE-D19 study. (2025 ASCO Annual Meeting)
11. Immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) efficacy in triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC) patients with liver metastases (LM): A meta-analysis.  (2025 ASCO Annual Meeting)
12. Real-world use of carboplatin-containing chemotherapy in early triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). (2025 ASCO Annual Meeting)