Health
Study: Vitamin B3 May Help Prevent Certain Skin Cancers
Marilynn Marchione, ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP) — 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 B3 for a year had a 23 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 2.5 cancers for the others.
The study did not involve melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer. Instead, it aimed at more common forms — basal and squamous cell cancers. More than 3 million cases are diagnosed each year in the United States.
“These are sort of the run-of-the-mill 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. “They’re rarely lethal but they’re 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 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, it’s not something for the general population,” said the study’s leader, Dr. Diona Damian of the Dermatology University of Sydney in Australia.
“We must always remember the basics of sun-sensible behaviors” — avoiding overexposure and using sunscreen — as the best ways for anyone to lower risk, she said.
The study involved 386 people who had at least two skin cancers in the previous five years. They took either 500 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 precancers — scaly patches of skin called actinic keratoses — by 11 percent after three months of use and 20 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 (nih-kuh-TEE’-nuh-myd) is thought to help repair DNA in cells damaged by sun exposure. It is not the same as nicotine, the addictive stuff in tobacco. It’s also not the same as niacin and some other forms of B3, 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 B3, 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.
Australia’s 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 group’s annual meeting in Chicago later this month.
___
Online:
Vitamin/cancer evidence: http://tinyurl.com/ktuquta
Skin cancer info:
http://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/skin-cancer-non-melanoma
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/skincancer/index
http://www.cancer.gov/publications/patient-education/wyntk-skin-cancer
___
Marilynn Marchione can be followed at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
###
Activism
COMMENTARY: The Biases We Don’t See — Preventing AI-Driven Inequality in Health Care
For decades, medicine promoted false assumptions about Black bodies. Black patients were told they had lower lung capacity, and medical devices adjusted their results accordingly. That practice was not broadly reversed until 2021. Up until 2022, a common medical formula used to measure how well a person’s kidneys were working automatically gave Black patients a higher score simply because they were Black. On paper, this made their kidneys appear healthier than they truly were. As a result, kidney disease was sometimes detected later in Black patients, delaying critical treatment and referrals.
By Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson, M.D., Special to California Black Media Partners
Technology is sold to us as neutral, objective, and free of human flaws. We are told that computers remove emotion, bias, and error from decision-making. But for many Black families, lived experience tells a different story. When technology is trained on biased systems, it reflects those same biases and silently carries them forward.
We have seen this happen across multiple industries. Facial recognition software has misidentified Black faces at far higher rates than White faces, leading to wrongful police encounters and arrests. Automated hiring systems have filtered out applicants with traditionally Black names because past hiring data reflected discriminatory patterns. Financial algorithms have denied loans or offered worse terms to Black borrowers based on zip codes and historical inequities, rather than individual creditworthiness. These systems did not become biased on their own. They were trained on biased data.
Healthcare is not immune.
For decades, medicine promoted false assumptions about Black bodies. Black patients were told they had lower lung capacity, and medical devices adjusted their results accordingly. That practice was not broadly reversed until 2021. Up until 2022, a common medical formula used to measure how well a person’s kidneys were working automatically gave Black patients a higher score simply because they were Black. On paper, this made their kidneys appear healthier than they truly were. As a result, kidney disease was sometimes detected later in Black patients, delaying critical treatment and referrals.
These biases were not limited to software or medical devices. Dangerous myths persisted that Black people feel less pain, contributing to undertreatment and delayed care. These beliefs were embedded in modern training and practice, not distant history. Those assumptions shaped the data that now feeds medical technology. When biased clinical practices form the basis of algorithms, the risk is not hypothetical. The bias can be learned, automated, and scaled.
For us in the Black community, this creates understandable fear and mistrust. Many families already carry generational memories of medical discrimination, from higher maternal mortality to lower life expectancy to being dismissed or unheard in clinical settings. Adding AI biases could make our community even more apprehensive about the healthcare system.
As a physician, I know how much trust patients place in the healthcare system during their most vulnerable moments. As a Black woman, I understand how bias can shape experiences in ways that are often invisible to those who do not live them. As a mother of two Black children, I think constantly about the systems that will shape their health and well-being. As a legislator, I believe it is our responsibility to confront emerging risks before they become widespread harm.
That is why I am the author of Senate Bill (SB) 503. This bill aims to regulate the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare by requiring developers and users of AI systems to identify, mitigate, and monitor biased impacts in their outputs to reduce racial and other disparities in clinical decision-making and patient care.
Currently under consideration in the State Assembly, SB 503 was not written to slow innovation. In fact, I encourage it. But it is our duty must ensure that every tool we in the healthcare field helps patients rather than harms them.
The health of our families depends on it.
About the Author
Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson (D–San Diego) is a physician and public health advocate representing California’s 39th Senate District.
Activism
As California Hits Aging Milestone, State Releases Its Fifth Master Plan for Aging
“California’s Master Plan for Aging started a powerful movement that is shaping the future of aging in our state for generations to come,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement, calling the initiative a “future-forward” model delivering real results for older adults, people with disabilities, and their families.
By Bo Tefu, California Black Media
On Jan. 27, California released its Fifth Master Plan for Aging Annual Report,titled “Focusing on What Matters Most,” outlining the state’s progress and priorities as its population rapidly grows older.
The report, issued by the California Health and Human Services Agency (CalHHS), provides updates on the Master Plan for Aging’s “Five Bold Goals”: housing, health, inclusion and equity, caregiving, and affordability.
The report comes as Californians aged 60 and older now outnumber those under 18 for the first time, a demographic shift expected to accelerate over the next decade.
“California’s Master Plan for Aging started a powerful movement that is shaping the future of aging in our state for generations to come,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement, calling the initiative a “future-forward” model delivering real results for older adults, people with disabilities, and their families.
Launched in 2021, the Master Plan for Aging takes a “whole-of- government” and “whole-of-society” approach, coordinating state agencies, local governments, community organizations, and private partners. The annual report highlights significant milestones, including more than 100 California communities joining AARP’s Age-Friendly Network and $4 million in state funding awarded to local organizations to develop aging and disability action plans in 30 communities statewide.
The report also underscores California’s leadership at the national level, noting that dozens of states have followed its example and that federal legislation inspired by the plan was reintroduced in the U.S. Senate in December 2025.
CalHHS Secretary Kim Johnson emphasized the plan’s focus on equity and resilience amid ongoing challenges.
“The Master Plan for Aging continues to provide a vision, a focus, and a platform for collaboration,” Johnson said. “Equity is at the center of all that we do.”
Looking ahead, the report notes that by 2030, one in four Californians will be age 60 or older, positioning the Master Plan for Aging as a central framework for meeting the state’s long-term social, economic, and health needs.
Community
Candidates Vying for Governor’s Seat Debate at Ruth Williams–Bayview Opera House in San Francisco
The gubernatorial debate participants included Antonio Villaraigosa, former Los Angeles mayor; Matt Mahan, San Jose mayor; Betty Yee, former California state controller; Xavier Becerra, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, and attorney general of California; Steve Hilton, political commentator and political adviser; Tom Steyer, entrepreneur, and Tony Thurmond, California’s superintendent of public instruction.
By Carla Thomas
On Tuesday, Feb. 3, seven candidates took the stage at the historic Ruth Williams–Bayview Opera House in San Francisco for the gubernatorial debate, hosted by the Black Action Alliance (BAA) in partnership with KTVU and sister station KTTV Fox 11 in Los Angeles.
For many voters, it marked a first opportunity to hear directly from several candidates seeking to lead the nation’s most populous state.
The gubernatorial debate participants included Antonio Villaraigosa, former Los Angeles mayor; Matt Mahan, San Jose mayor; Betty Yee, former California state controller; Xavier Becerra, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, and attorney general of California; Steve Hilton, political commentator and political adviser; Tom Steyer, entrepreneur, and Tony Thurmond, California’s superintendent of public instruction.
Crucial topics and issues addressed throughout the debate included housing, crime, immigration, climate change, health care and homelessness.
The debate was moderated by KTVU political reporter Greg Lee alongside KTVU’s Andre Senior and KTTV Fox 11’s Marla Tellez.
Candidates also addressed inflation and the rising costs across the state, impacting everything from groceries to childcare and health care.
Thurmond vowed to generate 2.3 million units of housing by placing 12 units on each parcel of available land in the 58 counties of California. Steyer agreed that billionaires should pay their fair share of taxes.
Hilton wanted to cut taxes, help working-class families, and end the Democrats “climate crusade and insane regulations.”
Yee offered a more transparent governmental approach with accountability, given the state’s debt.
Gonzalez said, “This debate was a great way to see who has great ideas and who has substance.”
“It’s important to have the debate within a community that requires the most,” said business leader Linda Fadekye.
Attendees included State Controller Malia Cohen, representatives of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, the National Coalition of 100 Black Men, the San Francisco African American Chamber of Commerce, and Black Women Organized for Political Action, among others.
Event host, the Black Action Alliance (BAA) was established to amplify the voices of the Bay Area’s Black community, whose perspectives have too often been overlooked in politics and public policy.
Loren Taylor, CEO of BAA, said it was important to bring the event to the Bayview in San Francisco and shared his organization’s mission.
“The Black Action Alliance (BAA) stands for practical, community-driven solutions that strengthen public safety, address homelessness, support small businesses, expand affordable housing, and ensure access to quality education—issues at the heart of the Black experience in the Bay Area,” said Taylor.
California’s primary election will take place on June 2 and the general election will take place on Nov. 3.
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Health
Study: Vitamin B3 May Help Prevent Certain Skin Cancers
Marilynn Marchione, ASSOCIATED PRESS
(AP) — 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 B3 for a year had a 23 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 2.5 cancers for the others.
The study did not involve melanoma, the most deadly form of skin cancer. Instead, it aimed at more common forms — basal and squamous cell cancers. More than 3 million cases are diagnosed each year in the United States.
“These are sort of the run-of-the-mill 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. “They’re rarely lethal but they’re 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 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, it’s not something for the general population,” said the study’s leader, Dr. Diona Damian of the Dermatology University of Sydney in Australia.
“We must always remember the basics of sun-sensible behaviors” — avoiding overexposure and using sunscreen — as the best ways for anyone to lower risk, she said.
The study involved 386 people who had at least two skin cancers in the previous five years. They took either 500 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 precancers — scaly patches of skin called actinic keratoses — by 11 percent after three months of use and 20 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 (nih-kuh-TEE’-nuh-myd) is thought to help repair DNA in cells damaged by sun exposure. It is not the same as nicotine, the addictive stuff in tobacco. It’s also not the same as niacin and some other forms of B3, 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 B3, 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.
Australia’s 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 group’s annual meeting in Chicago later this month.
___
Online:
Vitamin/cancer evidence: http://tinyurl.com/ktuquta
Skin cancer info:
http://www.cancer.net/cancer-types/skin-cancer-non-melanoma
http://www.cancer.org/cancer/skincancer/index
http://www.cancer.gov/publications/patient-education/wyntk-skin-cancer
___
Marilynn Marchione can be followed at http://twitter.com/MMarchioneAP
Copyright 2015 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed.
###
Activism
COMMENTARY: The Biases We Don’t See — Preventing AI-Driven Inequality in Health Care
For decades, medicine promoted false assumptions about Black bodies. Black patients were told they had lower lung capacity, and medical devices adjusted their results accordingly. That practice was not broadly reversed until 2021. Up until 2022, a common medical formula used to measure how well a person’s kidneys were working automatically gave Black patients a higher score simply because they were Black. On paper, this made their kidneys appear healthier than they truly were. As a result, kidney disease was sometimes detected later in Black patients, delaying critical treatment and referrals.
By Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson, M.D., Special to California Black Media Partners
Technology is sold to us as neutral, objective, and free of human flaws. We are told that computers remove emotion, bias, and error from decision-making. But for many Black families, lived experience tells a different story. When technology is trained on biased systems, it reflects those same biases and silently carries them forward.
We have seen this happen across multiple industries. Facial recognition software has misidentified Black faces at far higher rates than White faces, leading to wrongful police encounters and arrests. Automated hiring systems have filtered out applicants with traditionally Black names because past hiring data reflected discriminatory patterns. Financial algorithms have denied loans or offered worse terms to Black borrowers based on zip codes and historical inequities, rather than individual creditworthiness. These systems did not become biased on their own. They were trained on biased data.
Healthcare is not immune.
For decades, medicine promoted false assumptions about Black bodies. Black patients were told they had lower lung capacity, and medical devices adjusted their results accordingly. That practice was not broadly reversed until 2021. Up until 2022, a common medical formula used to measure how well a person’s kidneys were working automatically gave Black patients a higher score simply because they were Black. On paper, this made their kidneys appear healthier than they truly were. As a result, kidney disease was sometimes detected later in Black patients, delaying critical treatment and referrals.
These biases were not limited to software or medical devices. Dangerous myths persisted that Black people feel less pain, contributing to undertreatment and delayed care. These beliefs were embedded in modern training and practice, not distant history. Those assumptions shaped the data that now feeds medical technology. When biased clinical practices form the basis of algorithms, the risk is not hypothetical. The bias can be learned, automated, and scaled.
For us in the Black community, this creates understandable fear and mistrust. Many families already carry generational memories of medical discrimination, from higher maternal mortality to lower life expectancy to being dismissed or unheard in clinical settings. Adding AI biases could make our community even more apprehensive about the healthcare system.
As a physician, I know how much trust patients place in the healthcare system during their most vulnerable moments. As a Black woman, I understand how bias can shape experiences in ways that are often invisible to those who do not live them. As a mother of two Black children, I think constantly about the systems that will shape their health and well-being. As a legislator, I believe it is our responsibility to confront emerging risks before they become widespread harm.
That is why I am the author of Senate Bill (SB) 503. This bill aims to regulate the use of artificial intelligence in healthcare by requiring developers and users of AI systems to identify, mitigate, and monitor biased impacts in their outputs to reduce racial and other disparities in clinical decision-making and patient care.
Currently under consideration in the State Assembly, SB 503 was not written to slow innovation. In fact, I encourage it. But it is our duty must ensure that every tool we in the healthcare field helps patients rather than harms them.
The health of our families depends on it.
About the Author
Sen. Akilah Weber Pierson (D–San Diego) is a physician and public health advocate representing California’s 39th Senate District.
Activism
As California Hits Aging Milestone, State Releases Its Fifth Master Plan for Aging
“California’s Master Plan for Aging started a powerful movement that is shaping the future of aging in our state for generations to come,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement, calling the initiative a “future-forward” model delivering real results for older adults, people with disabilities, and their families.
By Bo Tefu, California Black Media
On Jan. 27, California released its Fifth Master Plan for Aging Annual Report,titled “Focusing on What Matters Most,” outlining the state’s progress and priorities as its population rapidly grows older.
The report, issued by the California Health and Human Services Agency (CalHHS), provides updates on the Master Plan for Aging’s “Five Bold Goals”: housing, health, inclusion and equity, caregiving, and affordability.
The report comes as Californians aged 60 and older now outnumber those under 18 for the first time, a demographic shift expected to accelerate over the next decade.
“California’s Master Plan for Aging started a powerful movement that is shaping the future of aging in our state for generations to come,” Gov. Gavin Newsom said in a statement, calling the initiative a “future-forward” model delivering real results for older adults, people with disabilities, and their families.
Launched in 2021, the Master Plan for Aging takes a “whole-of- government” and “whole-of-society” approach, coordinating state agencies, local governments, community organizations, and private partners. The annual report highlights significant milestones, including more than 100 California communities joining AARP’s Age-Friendly Network and $4 million in state funding awarded to local organizations to develop aging and disability action plans in 30 communities statewide.
The report also underscores California’s leadership at the national level, noting that dozens of states have followed its example and that federal legislation inspired by the plan was reintroduced in the U.S. Senate in December 2025.
CalHHS Secretary Kim Johnson emphasized the plan’s focus on equity and resilience amid ongoing challenges.
“The Master Plan for Aging continues to provide a vision, a focus, and a platform for collaboration,” Johnson said. “Equity is at the center of all that we do.”
Looking ahead, the report notes that by 2030, one in four Californians will be age 60 or older, positioning the Master Plan for Aging as a central framework for meeting the state’s long-term social, economic, and health needs.
Community
Candidates Vying for Governor’s Seat Debate at Ruth Williams–Bayview Opera House in San Francisco
The gubernatorial debate participants included Antonio Villaraigosa, former Los Angeles mayor; Matt Mahan, San Jose mayor; Betty Yee, former California state controller; Xavier Becerra, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, and attorney general of California; Steve Hilton, political commentator and political adviser; Tom Steyer, entrepreneur, and Tony Thurmond, California’s superintendent of public instruction.
By Carla Thomas
On Tuesday, Feb. 3, seven candidates took the stage at the historic Ruth Williams–Bayview Opera House in San Francisco for the gubernatorial debate, hosted by the Black Action Alliance (BAA) in partnership with KTVU and sister station KTTV Fox 11 in Los Angeles.
For many voters, it marked a first opportunity to hear directly from several candidates seeking to lead the nation’s most populous state.
The gubernatorial debate participants included Antonio Villaraigosa, former Los Angeles mayor; Matt Mahan, San Jose mayor; Betty Yee, former California state controller; Xavier Becerra, former U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services, and attorney general of California; Steve Hilton, political commentator and political adviser; Tom Steyer, entrepreneur, and Tony Thurmond, California’s superintendent of public instruction.
Crucial topics and issues addressed throughout the debate included housing, crime, immigration, climate change, health care and homelessness.
The debate was moderated by KTVU political reporter Greg Lee alongside KTVU’s Andre Senior and KTTV Fox 11’s Marla Tellez.
Candidates also addressed inflation and the rising costs across the state, impacting everything from groceries to childcare and health care.
Thurmond vowed to generate 2.3 million units of housing by placing 12 units on each parcel of available land in the 58 counties of California. Steyer agreed that billionaires should pay their fair share of taxes.
Hilton wanted to cut taxes, help working-class families, and end the Democrats “climate crusade and insane regulations.”
Yee offered a more transparent governmental approach with accountability, given the state’s debt.
Gonzalez said, “This debate was a great way to see who has great ideas and who has substance.”
“It’s important to have the debate within a community that requires the most,” said business leader Linda Fadekye.
Attendees included State Controller Malia Cohen, representatives of the National Coalition of 100 Black Women, the National Coalition of 100 Black Men, the San Francisco African American Chamber of Commerce, and Black Women Organized for Political Action, among others.
Event host, the Black Action Alliance (BAA) was established to amplify the voices of the Bay Area’s Black community, whose perspectives have too often been overlooked in politics and public policy.
Loren Taylor, CEO of BAA, said it was important to bring the event to the Bayview in San Francisco and shared his organization’s mission.
“The Black Action Alliance (BAA) stands for practical, community-driven solutions that strengthen public safety, address homelessness, support small businesses, expand affordable housing, and ensure access to quality education—issues at the heart of the Black experience in the Bay Area,” said Taylor.
California’s primary election will take place on June 2 and the general election will take place on Nov. 3.
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