Dr. David Fajgenbaum on Huberman Lab: How Old Drugs Cure

Fajgenbaum survived Castleman disease on a repurposed drug from his local pharmacy; now AI is scanning all FDA-approved generics for overlooked cancer cures.

Dr. David FajgenbaumguestAndrew Hubermanhost

Nov 3, 20251h 58mWatch on YouTube ↗

EPISODE INFO

Released: November 3, 2025
Duration: 1h 58m
Channel: Huberman Lab
Watch on YouTube: ▶ Open ↗

EPISODE DESCRIPTION

My guest is Dr. David Fajgenbaum, MD, professor of translational medicine and human genetics at the University of Pennsylvania. He explains how, unbeknownst to most doctors, many approved medications can successfully treat or even cure diseases other than the ones they are typically used to treat. He shares his story of escaping death from Castleman's disease by discovering a life-saving treatment using repurposed drugs that were approved for other purposes. Our conversation explores how researchers, physicians, and you—the general public—can explore novel treatments and cures to conditions the medical profession has deemed untreatable, including cancers. We also discuss the crucial role of mindset in battling diseases and the lesser-known use of compounds to promote health and longevity. Episode show notes: https://go.hubermanlab.com/4ER98fx *Thank you to our sponsors* AGZ by AG1: ⁠https://drinkagz.com/huberman Eight Sleep: ⁠https://eightsleep.com/huberman Rorra: ⁠https://rorra.com/huberman David: ⁠https://davidprotein.com/huberman Function: ⁠https://functionhealth.com/huberman *Follow Huberman Lab* Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/hubermanlab Threads: https://www.threads.net/@hubermanlab X: https://twitter.com/hubermanlab Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/hubermanlab TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@hubermanlab LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/andrew-huberman Website: https://www.hubermanlab.com Newsletter: https://www.hubermanlab.com/newsletter *Dr. David Fajgenbaum* Website: https://davidfajgenbaum.com Academic profile: https://www.med.upenn.edu/apps/faculty/index.php/g275/p8205911 TED talk: https://davidfajgenbaum.com/#ted Support Every Cure’s mission: https://everycure.org/ted Cytokine Storm Treatment & Laboratory: https://www.med.upenn.edu/CSTL Chasing My Cure (book): https://amzn.to/49Ea3Fg Time100 Health 2025: https://time.com/collections/time100-health-2025/7279645/david-fajgenbaum Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/dfajgenbaum X: https://x.com/DavidFajgenbaum Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/davidfajgenbaum LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidfajgenbaum *Timestamps* 00:00:00 David Fajgenbaum 00:04:06 Self-Agency in Healthcare; New Uses for Old Medicines 00:06:44 Other Uses of Aspirin & Viagra; Drug Development & Approved Use 00:08:53 Lidocaine & Breast Cancer; Pharmaceutical Companies & Incentives 00:11:36 Sponsors: Eight Sleep & Rorra 00:14:16 Pharmaceutical Companies, Patents & New Uses; Lithium 00:18:40 Tools: Finding Reliable Health Sources, Asking Questions & Disease Organizations; DADA2 Treatment 00:21:53 Medical Community & Connections; Integrated Medical Databases 00:24:36 Drug Repurposing, Thalidomide, Pembrolizumab 00:28:45 Medical Research Databases, Mapping Disease Connections 00:33:51 Every Cure Database & Programs, Bachmann-Bupp Syndrome; Colchicine & Heart Disease 00:37:57 Sponsors: AGZ by AG1 & David 00:40:41 David’s Medical & Career Journey, Glioblastoma, Castleman Disease 00:49:10 Autoimmune Disease, Driven Personality, Stress & Immune System 00:52:52 Castleman Disease, Treatment, Chemotherapy 00:55:54 Physician Continuing Education, Santa Claus Theory of Civilization; Science Collaboration 01:03:32 Medical School, Relapse & “Overtime”, Finding a New Treatment, Rapamycin 01:12:46 Sport, Football & Resilience; Challenge & Personal Growth, Family 01:18:41 Sponsor: Function 01:20:29 Social Support; “Overtime”, Gratitude 01:23:19 Business School, Castleman Disease Treatment; Repurposing Drugs & AI 01:28:29 Drug Repurposing, POEMS Syndrome; Mitigating Risk 01:35:32 Nicotine, Compounds for Preventive Health; GLP-1 Agonists 01:40:51 Bioprospecting, Drug Development; AI, Prioritization & Novel Connections 01:46:18 Healthcare & Children; Hope, Action & Impact Circuit; Challenge & Super-Agers 01:52:50 Get Involved with Every Cure 01:56:20 Zero-Cost Support, YouTube, Spotify & Apple Follow, Reviews & Feedback, Sponsors, Protocols Book, Social Media, Neural Network Newsletter #HubermanLab #Science #Health Disclaimer & Disclosures: https://www.hubermanlab.com/disclaimer

SPEAKERS

Dr. David Fajgenbaum
guest
Andrew Huberman
host

EPISODE SUMMARY

In this episode of Huberman Lab, featuring Dr. David Fajgenbaum and Andrew Huberman, Dr. David Fajgenbaum on Huberman Lab: How Old Drugs Cure explores old Drugs, New Cures: Repurposing Medicines To Save Overlooked Lives This episode features physician-scientist Dr. David Fajgenbaum, who nearly died multiple times from Castleman disease before identifying an existing drug, sirolimus/rapamycin, that put him into long-term remission. His experience exposed a major blind spot in medicine: thousands of FDA‑approved drugs affect many biological pathways but are only formally used for a small fraction of diseases they could help.

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