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 A study conducted at the University of Sydney found that
nicotinamide, a form of vitamin B3, reduced by 23 percent the
incidence of new, non-melanoma skin cancers in people who had at
least two of the cancers in the previous five years. The study
compared nicotinamide taken as a pill twice daily to a placebo.
The findings may offer a way to reduce the health burden and cost of
skin cancer, the most common form of the disease in fair-skinned
people, according to the American Society of Clinical Oncology. The
society released the study on Wednesday ahead of its annual meeting
at the end of this month.
"It's a cheap vitamin ... one could be generous about starting it
early if that's a preference," said Dr Peter Paul Yu, ASCO president
and director of cancer research at Palo Alto Medical Foundation.
The major cause of non-melanoma skin cancer is exposure to
ultraviolet radiation from the sun, which damages cellular DNA and
suppresses the ability of the skin's immune system to eradicate
abnormal cells.
"We were looking to counter both pathways," said Diona Damian,
professor of dermatology at the University of Sydney and the study's
lead author. She said the 386-patient study showed that nicotinamide
reduced the risk for both basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas,
the most common types of non-melanoma skin cancers.
The preventive effect seemed to begin as early as three months after
treatment started, but stopped after the patient stopped taking the
vitamin, indicating a "need to continue taking tablets for them to
be effective," she said
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Damian also emphasized that nicotinamide, easy to obtain and "almost
obscenely inexpensive," is not the same as another B vitamin,
niacin, that can cause side effects such as headache and low blood
pressure.
The researchers cautioned that people, especially those at high risk
of skin cancer, still need to use sun protection and have regular
skin cancer screenings.
While squamous and basal cell carcinomas are the most common skin
cancers, melanoma is the deadliest.
Damian also said nicotinamide should be used only by people at high
risk of skin cancer. "This is not something we would recommend for
the general population," she said.
(Reporting By Deena Beasley)
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