A new study shows that supplements B3 has helped reduce the risk of collection of melanoma skin cancer.
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Snezhana Kudryavtseva / Istockphoto / Getty Images
Doctors who perform skin cancer surgeries often recommend nicotinamide – which is a form of vitamin B3 – to their patients. It has been shown to protect the cells from damage caused by UV radiation.
Now, a new study of nearly 34,000 veterans, notes that this over -the -counter supplement is linked to a reduction in non -melanoma skin in people who have already had skin cancer. Research was published in DERMATOLOGY JAMA.
The greatest reduction was observed in people who started taking the supplement after receiving a diagnosis of skin cancer. The researchers found those who took 500 mg of nicotinamide, also known as the Niacinamide, twice a day, for at least a month, had a reduced risk of 54% of developing another skin cancer, compared to patients who did not take the supplement.
Overall, reducing the risk of skin cancer, to all participants, was around 14%. The reduction has been observed in non -melanoma skin cancers, including the basal carcinoma of the cells, which is the most common and cutaneous epidermoid carcinoma. The greatest reduction has been epidermoid cancers.
“I was very surprised by the degree of risk reduction,” said the study author, Dr. Lee Wheless, Vanderbilt University Medical Center and doctor from Tennessee Valley Healthcare System Va Medical Center.
Evidence in support of the potential advantages of B3 supplements to protect against skin cancer date back to a decade. The results of a randomized clinical trial in Australia published in 2015 which included 386 people with history of non -melanoma skin cancer underlined towards a reduced risk of new skin cancers.
The 2015 results led many doctors to recommend B3 supplements to their patients. A survey of 1,500 doctors who carry out MOHS surgery – a precise procedure to eliminate skin cancers – found that 77% recommend nicotinamide.
Sarah Arron is a dermatologist in the San Francisco Bay region, which performs surgery on people with skin cancer. It was not involved in the study. Arron had been on the closing of the moment to recommend vitamin B3 to his patients. Now she says that the new study provides more solid evidence and adds more clarity.
“The whole of the literature suggests that we should systematically recommend nicotinamide as secondary prevention for all patients with skin cancer and that previous initiation will have a stronger effect,” wrote Arron in an editorial of the study, which was published in parallel with the study in Jama dermatology.
Arron says that the supplement is widely available at the counter and has “minimum undesirable effects”. She says that people should buy the shape of the supplement which ends with “amide”, rather than niacin (nicotine acid) which is another form of B3 which does not have the same effects.
“I’m going to be more rigorous to recommend it to patients, especially patients who have their first skin cancer. I think the profit is strongest if we start it early,” said Arron at NPR. She says that the supplement was less effective in preventing skin cancer from the study participants who started to take B3 after having already received a diagnosis of skin cancers.
She points out that more than $ 8 billion is spent each year to treat skin cancers in the United States, and she says that people tend to underestimate the impact of non-melanoma cancers. Squameful cell cancers of cells are very treatable and are often eliminated when detected early, but they can spread to other parts of the body.
An unanswered question is whether supplements B3 are beneficial for people who have never received a diagnosis of skin cancer. Arron says that more research is needed.
“It is certainly possible that someone who has a higher risk of skin cancer, who already shows signs of precancerous change in the skin, could benefit from nicotinamide,” she said. “But we will have to do these studies to see.”
She says that vitamin B3 has proven to help protect cells from damage caused by UV radiation.
Many skin care products, from serum cleaners to moisturizers, include B3, which is marketed as an ingredient to help improve complexion and texture. There may be aesthetic advantages for the skin, but Arron says that it is not clear if these topical products would have an influence on the prevention of cancer.
This new study has not evaluated the effects of vitamin B3 on the risk of melanoma, which is a type of skin cancer which presents a higher risk of spread, and can be threatening life when it is not identified and treated.
Arron says that in terms of prevention, the best strategy for protecting the skin is the advice you have probably heard: foaming with sunscreen and covering.
