Some people believe tanning can supply the body with vitamin D, which is made in the skin in response to UV-B light exposure. But the lights used in indoor tanning machines are UV-A, which is known to induce cancer-causing DNA damage.
New research claims that vitamin supplements can reduce a person's risk for developing skin-related diseases. Reuters/Nir Elias

According to a new study by Australian researchers, inexpensive and easily available vitamin supplements in the market can possibly reduce the occurrence of skin cancer in people who are prone to it. The research claims that nicotinamide, a form of Vitamin B3, can reduce the risk of developing non-melanoma skin cancer by 23 percent.

Nicotinamide is a vitamin supplement and is widely available across all pharmacies around the world. Dr. Diona Damian, the study author, claimed that the inexpensive supplement is completely safe for consumption and a month of its dosage cost less than $10.

The supplement has been found to reduce the risk of developing skin cancer, when a person consumes the medicine twice a day. However, the researchers say the further deep investigation into the effect of the pills is required to understand whether it equally impacts everyone or not.

"It's safe, it's almost obscenely inexpensive, and it's already widely commercially available," said Damian. "However, it's not something we'd recommend at this stage for the general population." The researchers conducted their study on a group of 386 Australians who reported of two or more cases of skin cancer in last five years.

The study findings are scheduled to be presented at the upcoming annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology on May 30, 2015.

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