"A new study could change the way doctors treat patients at high risk for skin cancer https It doesnt involve any highpriced new pharmaceuticals  the key may be an overthecounter vitamin supplement that costs less than  a month. Researchers found that a form of vitamin B called nicotinamide could help reduce the chance of skin cancer https recurring in patients whove had it before. Another popular form of Vitamin B called niacin was not used in this study. For the study researchers in Australia looked at nearly  people who had had at least two nonmelanoma skin cancers. They found patients who took vitamin B twice a day cut their chances of developing new skin cancers by  percent. Thats a dramatic number Dr. David Agus director of USCs Norris Westside Cancer Center told CBS This Morning. It could make a major impact. Dr. Jae Jung a dermatologist at City of Hope cancer center in Duarte California agreed. If you can reduce the new skin cancer rates for these patients it would be an enormous benefit she told CBS News. How does it work Sunlights ultraviolet UV rays https can damage the DNA in skin cells https increasing the risk for skin cancer. Researchers say vitamin B gives skin cells an energy boost  turns back on the immune system in Aguss words  helping them repair the damage. Nearly  million people are treated for skin cancer in the U.S. each year and the Skin Cancer Foundation says  out of  Americans will develop skin cancer in their lifetime https The two most common forms of the disease basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma can usually be treated successfully. The most dangerous type melanoma occurs in about  people in the U.S. each year and kills more than . One patient who could benefit from the vitamin treatment is Charity Wiese who has been diagnosed with skin cancer more than two dozen times in the last five years. She said shes had quite a few on the top of my head a few on the back of my head one behind each ear even though she tries to stay out of the sun. Wiese had leukemia as a teenager and underwent radiation therapy which put her at high risk for skin cancer later in life. Wiese thinks the vitamin study sounds promising. I am absolutely willing to try it and hope for the best she said. Doctors involved in the study are excited by their findings on vitamin B nicotinamide. Its safe its almost obscenely inexpensive and its already widely commercially available Dr. Diona Damian the senior author of the study and a professor of dermatology at the University of Sydney told HealthDay httpconsumer.healthday.comcancerinformationmiscancernewsvitaminsupplementmayhelppreventskincancer.htmlutm_expid.pIVhUrQRK_MJ_OqjLag.utm_referrerhttpAFFconsumer.healthday.comF. But she said more reserach is needed to see if everyone benefits from it. Its not something wed recommend at this stage for the general population Damian said. She also noted that the benefits appear to wear off when patients stop taking the supplements. Results of the study are being presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology later this month."