Nicotinamide
Nicotinamide is a cheap over-the-counter form of vitamin B3. Taken twice a day it cuts the number of new skin cancers in people who have already had several, by helping skin cells repair sun damage.
Overview
Nicotinamide (niacinamide) is the amide form of vitamin B3, available without prescription. Unlike niacin it does not cause flushing. In the Australian ONTRAC trial (New England Journal of Medicine, 2015), 386 people who had had at least two non-melanoma skin cancers in the previous five years took 500 mg twice daily or placebo for a year; new basal and squamous cell carcinomas fell by about a quarter, and actinic keratoses also fell. The benefit disappears when it is stopped.
It is now recommended in guidelines as chemoprevention for high-risk patients, including organ-transplant recipients, alongside sun protection and regular skin checks. Its proposed mechanism is replenishing cellular NAD+ so that ultraviolet-damaged DNA is repaired and the local immune suppression caused by sunlight is reduced.
- Oestrogen receptor
- Ligand pocket blocked / receptor degraded
- Oestrogen kept out
A precursor of NAD+ that supplies energy for DNA repair after ultraviolet damage and blunts the immunosuppression sunlight causes in skin.
1.Nicotinamide slips into a pocket on its target.
Trials
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Latest papers
topQuery for this drug: (TITLE:"Nicotinamide" OR ABSTRACT:"Nicotinamide" OR TITLE:"Niacinamide" OR ABSTRACT:"Niacinamide" OR TITLE:"Vitamin B3 amide" OR ABSTRACT:"Vitamin B3 amide") AND (cancer OR tumor OR tumour OR oncology OR carcinoma OR lymphoma OR leukemia OR leukaemia OR myeloma OR sarcoma OR melanoma OR glioma). Results are unfiltered search hits about Nicotinamide, not a curated reading list.
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