Vitamin B3 lowers the risk cancer

Nicotinamide may put a stop to melanoma

http://www.nutritioninsight.com/news/nicotinamide-may-put-a-stop-to-melanoma.html

09 Aug 2017 --- Nicotinamide, a form of vitamin B3, has the potential to prevent melanoma in high-risk individuals, according to a review published in the Photodermatology, Photoimmunology & Photomedicine review. Strategies for skin cancer that prevent the need for chemotherapy are extremely important, especially during a time of aging populations and increasing rates of melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers worldwide, notes the study. The use of nicotinamide, therefore, presents an interesting option for preventing the most dangerous form of skin cancer in the future. The cost of nicotinamide is approximately US$10 per month if taken at 1g per day as recommended.

Nicotinamide is an amide form of vitamin B3 (niacin), a water-soluble vitamin. According to the study, it can help to reduce or reverse DNA damage, inflammation and immunosuppression caused by ultraviolet radiation.

The first study considered in the review is the ONTRAC (Oral Nicotinamide to Reduce Actinic Cancer) study, a multicenter, phase III, double-blinded placebo-controlled trial in which 386 participants were recruited. At each three-monthly visit, the number of new non-melanoma skin cancers in the nicotinamide group was lower than that in the placebo group, showing between an 18 percent and a 29 percent relative rate reduction. However, the study did not assess the effect on the rate of melanomas.

In comparison, there have been relatively few studies investigating nicotinamide’s impact on melanomas. In one of the few relevant studies, melanoma cell migratory investigations conducted by Kunimoto et al., nicotinamide significantly reduced the invasion of subcutaneously transplanted melanoma cells in immunocompetent mice.

High-dose oral nicotinamide is increasingly being used in clinical practice for the prevention of non-melanoma skin cancers in high-risk, immune competent patients who have already had multiple skin cancers, reports the review. Its protective effects against some of the biological mechanisms important in causing melanoma, such as the aforementioned DNA damage and UV-caused immunosuppression, suggest to researchers that it could also be effective in melanoma prevention.

Based on current clinical evidence of the use of nicotinamide in non-melanoma skin cancers and early in vitro studies conducted with melanocytes and melanoma cells, the study concludes that randomized placebo controlled trials are now warranted to determine its efficacy and safety for melanoma prevention.

“Nicotinamide has been shown in a clinical trial […] to reduce the incidence of non-melanoma skin cancer in high-risk individuals and it would be worthwhile to determine whether it would also be useful for high-risk melanoma patients,” says Dr. Gary Halliday, senior author of the Photodermatology, Photoimmunology & Photomedicine review.

The review, “Melanoma and nonmelanoma skin cancer chemoprevention: A role for nicotinamide?” can be found here.

The use of nicotinamide is the latest possible strategy for fighting skin cancer without the need for chemotherapy. A study has recently found that eating a tomato-rich diet cut the risk of skin cancer in half in some cases, while it may also be useful to avoid white wine, which has been associated with higher rates of invasive melanoma among white men and women. Patients with malignant melanoma that has spread have also been advised that diverse gut bacteria could help with immunotherapy treatment.

Vitamin B3 could help reduce skin cancer risk

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/vitamin-b3-could-help-reduce-skin-cancer-risk/

A new study could change the way doctors treat patients at high risk for skin cancer. It doesn't involve any high-priced new pharmaceuticals -- the key may be an over-the-counter vitamin supplement that costs less than $10 a month.

Researchers found that a form of vitamin B3 called nicotinamide could help reduce the chance of skin cancer recurring in patients who've had it before. (Another popular form of Vitamin B3 called niacin was not used in this study.)

For the study, researchers in Australia looked at nearly 400 people who had had at least two non-melanoma skin cancers. They found patients who took vitamin B3 twice a day cut their chances of developing new skin cancers by 23 percent.

"That's a dramatic number," Dr. David Agus, director of USC's Norris Westside Cancer Center, told "CBS This Morning." "It could make a major impact."

A Phase 3 Randomized Trial of Nicotinamide for Skin-Cancer Chemoprevention

https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMoa1506197

Conclusions

Oral nicotinamide was safe and effective in reducing the rates of new nonmelanoma skin cancers and actinic keratoses in high-risk patients. (Funded by the National Health and Medical Research Council; ONTRAC Australian New Zealand Clinical Trials Registry number, ACTRN12612000625875.)

(The dosage used to obtain results is 1,000 to 1,500 mg. Nicotinamide (NAM; also known as niacinamide) is very cheap an has no side effects, is also research as anti-aging since it increase NAD+ and genes associated with aging.)

Vitamin B3 lowers the risk of melanoma

https://www.naturalhealth365.com/vitamin-b3-melanoma-2514.html

Rates of melanoma, the deadliest form of skin cancer, are on the rise. The American Cancer Society predicted that melanoma would cause over 9,000 deaths within the United States (alone) in 2017 – and that over 91,000 new cases would be diagnosed by year’s end. And, not a word about the value of vitamin B3.

While research is ongoing, there is currently no single drug or combination of drugs that can effectively treat melanoma. However, recent research raises the hope that vitamin B3 may play an important role in preventing and slowing this deadly disease.
Vitamin B3 combats melanoma with multiple methods of action

In a review conducted at the University of Sydney and published in Photodermatology, Photoimmunology and Photomedicine, the authors concluded that nicotinamide, the active form of vitamin B3, may help prevent melanoma.

Malignant melanoma begins in the melanocytes – skin cells that produce the protective pigment melanin. UV radiation exposure from sunlight, which damages cell DNA, is a known risk factor for melanoma – one that sunscreen may not protect against. (Natural health experts note that sunscreen may prevent people from obtaining enough beneficial vitamin D, which is strongly associated with cancer protection.)

Encouragingly, the researchers found that nicotinamide – also known as niacinamide – boosts DNA repair in response to UV exposure. Study co-author Diona Damian reported that nicotinamide replenishes energy stores of keratinocytes (epidermal skin cells) diminished by sun exposure – allowing them to repair DNA damage more efficiently.

In addition, nicotinamide reduces inflammation – another risk factor for cancer – by suppressing synthesis of inflammatory substances such as interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor alpha. The vitamin also helps to reduce the immune suppressive effects of sunlight on skin.
Nicotinamide decreases the aggressiveness and invasiveness of tumors

Another significant finding is the discovery that nicotinamide can impair vascular mimicry – the ability of melanoma and other tumor cells to form tubular networks that can resemble normal venous networks. Vascular mimicry, an important factor in tumor growth, is associated with more aggressive tumors.

And that isn’t all – nicotinamide also caused an increase in the death of melanoma cells, impairing their ability to spread and proliferate. And, it regulated the activity of sirtuin1, an enzyme involved in cancer growth.

Researchers also found that nicotinamide reduces the incidence of actinic keratosis – precancerous growths that appear in sun-exposed areas of the body.

The authors characterized nicotinamide as a “promising and well-tolerated” therapy, and called for more randomized, placebo-controlled trials to further explore its cancer-fighting potential.
Is there other research on vitamin B3 and skin cancer?

Yes, and it is impressive. In the Oral Nicotinamide to Reduce Actinic Cancer study – a Phase III clinical trial of nicotinamide – 386 participants received either a placebo or 500 mg of nicotinamide – twice daily for a year.

And the results were extremely promising. The vitamin substantially lowered rates of the two most common types of skin cancer, with a 20 percent reduction in basal cell carcinonomas and a 30 percent reduction in squamous cell carcinonomas – all without adverse effects.

Important note: Although vitamin B3 helped to repair damage from UV exposure, it did not alter the sunburn threshold when used orally or topically. The researchers noted that vitamin B3 should not be used as an alternative to sun-protective behaviors, and should only be used as an adjunct – along with sunscreen, sun-protective clothing and sensible sunbathing behavior – especially for people at particularly high risk of skin cancer.
Diet and proper supplementation may play key role in preventing melanoma

There is evidence that diets high in vitamins C and D, retinol, carotene, lutein and lycopene can substantially cut the risk of melanoma. Of course, another great idea is to eat lots of (organic) vegetables and fruit – which offer a rich source of (skin protective) antioxidant nutrients.

There is another very good reason for eating a diet high in fresh produce – the presence in fruits and vegetables of a flavone called gossypin. In a study published in Molecular Cancer Therapeutics, researchers found that gossypin stopped cancer cell growth, reduced tumor volume and prolonged survival rate in mice that had been transplanted with human melanoma tumors.

For good dietary sources of vitamin B3, look to beets, brewer’s yeast, eggs, fish, green vegetables, lean meats and dairy products.

Vitamin B3 is available in supplementary form. If you are interested in supplementing with vitamin B3, get the go-ahead from your integrative healthcare provider to see what’s best for you.

No doubt, vitamin B3 – in the form of nicotinamide – is impressing researchers with its ability to combat melanoma, and injecting a note of hope into the struggle against a deadly disease.

Interesting as usual.

Is nicotinamide the one that doesn't make you flush like straight niacin?

I trialled the flushing kind to see what effect it had on my lipids. None came the answer.

chris c wrote:Interesting as usual.

Is nicotinamide the one that doesn't make you flush like straight niacin?

I trialled the flushing kind to see what effect it had on my lipids. None came the answer.

Yes is the one without the flush, but not to be confused with one that is sold to lower cholesterol they call no flush niacin that is inositol hexanicotinate. Niacinamide doesn't lower cholesterol. Niacin is the one that causes the flush and lower cholesterol and in high dosage(over 1500Mg) affect glucose control.

Maybe I get enough in my diet anyway then, apart from the flush I noticed no other changes.

More on nicotinamide and meat from an evolutionary perspective

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5417583/