An inexpensive vitamin B₃ product, widely available over the counter, has been shown to
reduce significantly the risk of developing further skin cancers in patients
who have already been diagnosed with nonmelanoma skin cancer. The product is
nicotinamide, taken orally 500 mg twice daily.
Nonmelanoma skin cancer is the most common cancer worldwide, she
said. In Australia, it is four times more common than any other cancer, and it
affects more than half the population during their lifetime.
The finding, from the Australian ONTRAC (Oral Nicotinamide to
Reduce Actinic Cancer) study, was presented during a press briefing held in
advance of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) 2015 Annual
Meeting.
The results released today show that patients who took
nicotinamide 500 mg twice daily for 1 year showed a 23% reduction in new
diagnoses of nonmelanoma skin cancer, compared with those who took placebo (P =
.02). Specifically, new diagnoses of basal cell carcinoma were reduced by 20%,
squamous cell carcinoma by 30%, and actinic keratoses by 13%.
ASCO President Peter Yu, MD, director of cancer research at the
Palo Alto Medical Foundation, described this research as a "major
advance" in prevention.
In
the United States, about 5 million people each year are diagnosed with
nonmelanoma skin cancer.
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