National Cancer Institute to Study Ivermectin as Potential Cancer Treatment

The National Cancer Institute (NCI) plans to conduct a study on the use of ivermectin to treat cancer, according to a top official. Ivermectin is an FDA-approved anti-parasitic medication commonly used ​​to treat various infections caused by internal and external parasites, such as parasitic worms and head lice, though the drug rose in popularity—and scrutiny—during the pandemic as an alternative treatment to the coronavirus.¹

Public health officials cautioned against using ivermectin for COVID-19, stating that clinical trials found it to be ineffective and potentially harmful when used off-label. However, a 2021 randomized trial published in the Journal of Medical Virology reported that ivermectin was associated with reduced symptoms among household contacts of COVID cases. As the study notes, “There was a statistically significant reduction in the development of symptoms among contacts who received ivermectin compared to those who did not.”²

Additionally, only 7.4 percent of contacts in the ivermectin group developed symptoms versus 58.4 percent in the control group. “Ivermectin use was associated with a lower rate of symptomatic SARS-CoV-2 infection among household contacts.” While the study reported reduced symptoms among household contacts treated with ivermectin, its findings have not been consistently replicated in larger analyses.²

NIH Officials Emphasize Scientific Evidence Transparency and Testing of Controversial Hypotheses

Discussions about the upcoming study took place at the Jan. 30, 2026 “Reclaiming Science: The People’s NIH,” event, a roundtable discussion focused on reforming the agency to prioritize reducing chronic disease, enhancing scientific openness, and overcoming public distrust following the COVID pandemic.¹

“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,” said Anthony Letai, MD, PhD, who was appointed as NCI director in September 2025.¹

“If lots of people believe it and it’s moving public health, we as NIH have an obligation, again, to treat it seriously,” National Institutes of Health (NIH) director Jay Bhattacharya, MD, PhD said at the event. He later said the NIH is showing “an openness to ideas—even ideas that scientists would say, ‘Oh, there’s no way it could work’—while still applying rigorous scientific methods to evaluate them.”¹

Existing Research Suggests Ivermectin Has Anti-Tumor Effects

According to Dr. Letai, existing research that has been conducted both with and without NIH funding, suggests that ivermectin may have anticancer effects by promoting cell death and inhibiting tumor cell growth. As one 2025 study notes, “Ivermectin has demonstrated significant antitumor effects in various cancer models.”^{1 3}

Another review notes that ivermectin can induce multiple forms of cancer cell death, including apoptosis, autophagy, and pyroptosis and that, depending on the cancer type, may enhance the effectiveness of chemotherapy while reducing drug resistance. However, the authors emphasize that determining how these effects translate across different cancers, and whether they hold up in human studies, requires further investigation. The review also reports that ivermectin has demonstrated anticancer activity in laboratory and animal models, although clinical evidence in humans remains limited.⁴

HHS Secretary Says Low-Cost Drugs Like Ivermectin Were Sidelined by Government and Industry During COVID Pandemic Response

U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. has said that the government and pharmaceutical companies suppressed ivermectin and other inexpensive, off-patent drugs during the pandemic because they are less lucrative for the pharmaceutical industry. In an October 2024 post on X, Secretary Kennedy wrote:

FDA’s war on public health is about to end. This includes its aggressive suppression of psychedelics, peptides, stem cells, raw milk, hyperbaric therapies, chelating compounds, ivermectin, hydroxychloroquine, vitamins, clean foods, sunshine, exercise, nutraceuticals and anything else that advances human health and can’t be patented by Pharma.¹

Critics Strongly Oppose Scientific Research Into Study of Ivermectin As A Cancer Treatment

Critics of the upcoming study have expressed frustration and disappointment, citing the lack of available data to support considering ivermectin as a cancer treatment. They claim that resources should not be allocated to conduct research into a potential cancer treatment they believe lacks sufficient scientific basis, despite a growing body of laboratory and animal research suggesting potential anticancer effects of ivermectin.¹

“I am shocked and appalled,” one NCI scientist said, speaking on condition of anonymity for fear of retaliation. “We are moving funds away from so much promising research in order to do a preclinical study based on nonscientific ideas. It’s absurd.”¹

Jeffery Edenfield, MD, executive medical director of oncology for Prisma Health Cancer Institute in South Carolina, worries patients will forego conventional cancer treatments, believing what he calls “unfounded” claims about the anti-parasitic drug. Dr. Edenfield says he “regularly” tries to persuade patients against taking ivermectin to treat their cancer, suggesting they have largely “made up their minds” by the time he broaches the topic with them.¹

“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,” Edenfield said. “We’re in this delicate time when there’s sort of a fundamental mistrust of medicine,” he added. “Some people are just not going to believe me. I just have to keep trying.”¹

FDA Policy Allows Off-Label Prescribing, Including Ivermectin

According to the FDA, doctors are permitted to prescribe approved drugs for off-label use when deemed medically appropriate, including ivermectin. “From the FDA’s perspective, with few exceptions, health care professionals may choose to prescribe or use an approved human drug for an unapproved use when they judge that the unapproved use is medically appropriate for an individual patient. If your health care provider writes you an ivermectin prescription, fill it through a legitimate source such as a pharmacy.”⁵

So far, lawmakers in five states—Tennessee, Arkansas, Idaho, Louisiana, and Texas—have voted to make ivermectin available over the counter, raising concerns among doctors who believe people may overuse or misuse the drug, or substitute it for traditional cancer treatments they consider to be proven.⁶

Details about the study on ivermectin as a potential cancer treatment have not been publicly disclosed. However, HHS spokesperson Emily Hilliard said the National Institutes of Health is dedicated to investigating ivermectin’s potential as a cancer treatment with “rigorous, gold-standard research.”¹

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