"For the first time a large study suggests that a vitamin might modestly lower the risk of the most common types of skin cancer in people with a history of these relatively harmless yet troublesome growths.  In a study in Australia people who took a specific type of vitamin httpsmedicalxpress.comtagsvitamin B for a year had a  percent lower rate of new skin cancers compared to others who took dummy pills. In absolute terms it meant that vitamin takers developed fewer than two of these cancers on average versus roughly . cancers for the others. The study did not involve melanoma the most deadly form of skin cancer. Instead it aimed at more common formsbasal and squamous cell cancers httpsmedicalxpress.comtagssquamouscellcancers. More than  million cases are diagnosed each year in the United States. These are sort of the runofthemill skin cancers that so many people get said Dr. Richard Schilsky chief medical officer of the American Society of Clinical Oncology an organization of cancer specialists. Theyre rarely lethal but theyre very persistent and they keep coming back and are expensive to remove usually through surgery freezing off the spots or radiation. He and other doctors with the oncology group said the vitamin called nicotinamide could offer a cheap easy way to lower risk. However Australia has higher rates of skin cancer httpsmedicalxpress.comtagsskincancer than the U.S. and other parts of the world and some doctors may want more evidence beyond this single study before recommending the pills. Vitamins have long proved elusive for cancer prevention and some studies have even found certain ones can be harmful. Researchers also stressed they were not suggesting vitamin use for people who have not yet had one of these cancers. At the moment its not something for the general population said the studys leader Dr. Diona Damian of the Dermatology University of Sydney in Australia. We must always remember the basics of sunsensible behaviorsavoiding overexposure and using sunscreenas the best ways for anyone to lower risk she said. The study involved  people who had at least two skin cancers in the previous five years. They took either  milligrams of the vitamin or dummy pills twice a day for a year. Neither they nor their doctors knew who got what until the study ended. Besides reducing the rate of skin cancers vitamin use also seemed to cut the rate of precancersscaly patches of skin called actinic keratosesby  percent after three months of use and  percent after nine months. Participants were tracked for six months after they stopped taking their pills and the rate of new skin cancers was similar in both groups. The benefit wears off fairly quickly Damian said. You need to continue taking the tablets for them to continue to be effective. Nicotinamide is thought to help repair DNA in cells damaged by sun exposure. It is not the same as nicotine the addictive stuff in tobacco. Its also not the same as niacin and some other forms of B which can cause flushing headaches and blood pressure problems. Those problems were not seen with nicotinamide in the study. Nicotinamide is sold over the counter is easy to take and there are essentially no side effects Schilsky said. However it might be a little tough to find. A check of one major drugstore chain found only other forms of B such as niacin or combination B vitamins. Online some retailers offered nicotinamide for prices ranging from a nickel to a dollar a tablet sometimes combined with other things. Australias National Health and Medical Research Council funded the study. The oncology society released the results in a telephone news briefing Wednesday and it will be discussed at the groups annual meeting in Chicago later this month.    Explore further Common painkillers may help prevent certain skin cancers study finds httpsmedicalxpress.comnewscommonpainkillersskincancers.html"