The New York Times (5/14, Pollack, Subscription Publication) reports that research suggests that “an inexpensive vitamin can help reduce the occurrence of common skin cancers in people prone to” the disease. Investigators found “in a clinical trial” that “people who took two pills a day of nicotinamide, a form of vitamin B3 available as a nutritional supplement, had a 23 percent lower risk of developing non-melanoma skin cancer than those who” were given a placebo.
The Times points out that “a summary of the results was released” yesterday “and presented…at a telephone news conference prior to the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.”
The Washington Post (5/13, Bernstein) “To Your Health” blog reports that “when the test subjects stopped taking the vitamin, the benefit was lost, a follow-up showed.”
The AP (5/14, Marchione) reports that the research “did not involve melanoma,” instead focusing on the “more common forms – basal and squamous cell cancers.”
