A good intake of vitamin B3, which is found in fish, meats, seeds, nuts, and especially peanuts, may help to protect you from skin cancer.
Skin cancer is increasing in prevalence, and although malignant melanoma is the most dangerous, at least 10 times more non-melanoma skin cancers are diagnosed each year in the form of basal cell carcinomas (BCC) and squamous cell carcinomas (SCC).
BCCs rarely spread but are locally invasive and can be disfiguring. SCCs are able to spread elsewhere in the body, and some develop from premalignant lesions known as actinic keratoses.
What Are Actinic Keratoses?
Actinic keratoses (AK) are caused by long-term UV damage and are also known as solar keratoses. They usually take the form of rough, sandpaper-like patches of skin on areas exposed to the sun, such as the face, bald scalp, upper chest, back, hands, and forearms. They are often red in color, but can be tan, pink, or flesh-toned.
One in ten people over the age of 40 have actinic keratoses, rising to one in four people aged 60 or over. They can progress to form skin cancer, and the presence of 10 AK lesions is associated with a 14 pecent risk of developing an SCC within five years.
Lesions are usually treated to prevent this happening (with topical creams or gels, cryotherapy, photodynamic therapy, or surgical excision). Now it seems that high dose vitamin B3 may prevent their recurrence.
