In 23,004 matched people with a prior skin cancer, oral nicotinamide lined up with fewer later eyelid cancers in the first year

What the research found

A retrospective cohort was published on 10 November 2026. A deidentified database of 150 million patients, from January 2006 through 2026, held 1,519,126 people with a prior nonmelanoma skin cancer. 12,944 of them had later oral nicotinamide, a form of vitamin B3, within 5 years of that diagnosis. After 1:1 propensity matching, 23,004 people were analyzed. Later eyelid cancers were less common in the nicotinamide group: 212 of 11,502 (1.84 percent) versus 338 (2.94 percent), relative risk 0.627 (95 percent CI 0.529 to 0.743), p < 0.001. The relative risk for a nonmelanoma skin cancer at any site was 0.771 (95 percent CI 0.750 to 0.792). The eyelid difference was concentrated in the first year (relative risk 0.449, 95 percent CI 0.358 to 0.561). After the first year the groups did not differ (relative risk 1.023, 95 percent CI 0.806 to 1.298). The abstract does not give age or sex. This is a record association, not a trial, and it is not a reason to start a vitamin. DOI 10.1097/IOP.0000000000003312. Not medical advice.

Evidence level: Human study. A study in people, but an association isn't proof of cause.

Read the original at Ophthalmic Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery