The new survey revealed a “global advantage for nicotinamide used to prevent skin cancer”, explains the study author Lee Wheless, MD, PHD, Deputy Professor of Dermatology at the Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville and Doctor of Tennessee Valley Health System VETERANS MEDICAL CENTER.
Some people who obtain nicotinamide in particular benefited from it. “We were able to stratify patients by the number of cancers of the previous skin, noting that there was a much greater risk reduction, by more than 50%, when nicotinamide was started after the first skin cancer, compared to start later after the patients developed several skin cancers,” said Dr. Wheless.
The study saw the overall risk of recurrence of skin cancer drop by 14%
The retrospective cohort study used data from electronic healthcare files for the business data warehouse of veterans over a period of 25 years. Nearly 34,000 patients who had skin cancer were included.
The researchers examined the results of patients who took oral nicotinamide and had another diagnosis of skin cancer. They compared 12,287 patients who received the supplement with 21,479 who did not do so.
They found that patients who took 500 milligrams of nicotinamide twice a day for at least 30 days had a reduction of 14% of the overall risk of recurrence. Patients who took nicotinamide after their first skin cancer saw their risk drop the most – by 54%.
“Everyone in this study had anterior skin cancer, so these data cannot speak of primary prevention, but for secondary prevention, I would say that these data are quite convincing that there is an advantage of nicotinamide for certain patients,” says Wheless.
Why could vitamin B3 help prevent recurrence of skin cancer?
It is believed that nicotinamide, which is not the same as niacin (another form of B3), helps to repair DNA damage by exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation (UV) and can counter the immune suppression that occurs after the damage of the sun, explains Brian Zelickson, MD, a dermatologist from the Schweiger dermatology group in Edinota. Dr. Zelickson was not involved in the study.
“Our skin is constantly exposed to UV radiation, so our DNA repair machinery works hard to follow,” adds Wheless. “Over time, small amounts of DNA mutations accumulate and can cause skin cancer. By improving DNA repair, these mutations do not accumulate so quickly. ”
This is probably why the latest research shows greater advantages of nicotinamide when taken after a first skin cancer rather than after several skin cancers. “Patients with less skin cancer probably have less damage to substantive DNA, so slower accumulation leads to less risks,” says Wheless. “Patients with multiple skin cancer probably have more background DNA damage, so it is not much more necessary to tip the scales and develop another skin cancer.”
The study is “another high -level evidence”
The new research is important because it is “another high -level evidence to show that nicotinamide really contributes to reducing the risk of skin cancer”, explains Anthony Rossi, MD, a dermatologist specializing in MoHS micrographic surgery and other skin cancer surgeries at Memorial Sloan Ketter Cancer Center. Dr. Rossi was not involved in the latest study.
Rossi says he regularly recommends nicotinamide to his patients to help reduce their risk of later skin cancer.
Although there are no treatment guidelines for the use of nicotinamide to prevent skin cancer, Whelesse says that the new study provides “fairly solid evidence that we should consider its use earlier in our skin cancer patients”.
Do you have a supplement of vitamin B3 if you have had skin cancer?
Nicotinamide is inexpensive, well tolerated and adds another protective layer for patients who have had skin cancer, says Zelickson.
“It will not replace solar screens, hats or skin checks, but it is an intelligent supplement in the right context,” he said. “For high -risk patients, especially after first skin cancer, B3 can make a significant difference.”
The recommended dose is 500 milligrams twice a day, says Rossi.
The study has limits
The population studied was limited to a population of veterans who were mainly white men, and the researchers noted that the population was “not necessarily generalizable”.
“Veterans are a special population that we know more at risk of skin cancer compared to the civilian population,” explains Wheless. “I would like to see this reproduced in a wider population to confirm.”
As an observation study, the researchers said that there could be unsubseed variables. For example, some patients could have received over-the-counter nicotinamide or a non-veterans dermatologist.
“Although we have done an excellent job to try to take into account not only regular risk factors, but also the calendar and the number of cancers of the previous skin, there could certainly be non -measured risk factors that have contributed,” explains Wheless.
He and his team develop a potential trial to respond to some of these limitations.
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Health-GettyImages-OliveOilShots-7a25633fe8e8434ca856aee8d92fdc65.jpg?w=390&resize=390,220&ssl=1 "Is taking an olive oil photo the secret for better health?")
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Health-GettyImages-ReasonsToEatWatermelon-b033a6c488754fa8b5bc92070a3fcfc7.jpg?w=390&resize=390,220&ssl=1 "9 reasons why nutritionists say you should eat more watermelon this summer")
:max_bytes(150000):strip_icc()/Health-GettyImages-1391254488-cc8e814888c64fddb2853b0f46eca9f7.jpg?w=390&resize=390,220&ssl=1 "Virus that causes cold pimples linked to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease")