Cancer researchers are testing whether a generic drug that has been used for more than 40 years to treat parasitic infections may also help fight cancer. The tests of mebendazole are part of a growing effort to take a fresh look at old medicines to see if they can be repurposed for new uses. I first learned about mebendazole several years back when my son came home from camp with a gross but common infection: pinworms. My pediatrician prescribed two doses of mebendazole, and two weeks later the infection was gone. Flash-forward a couple of years, and I was surprised to find on clinicaltrials.gov, the federal database of medical trials, that mebendazole was being investigated as a potential cancer drug.

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