Cancer is one of the most serious diseases people can face. It affects millions of lives around the world every year.
While doctors have developed many ways to treat cancer—like chemotherapy, radiation, and special drugs—these treatments don’t always work for every person.
This is especially true for people who have blood cancers such as leukemia or lymphoma. When the usual treatments stop helping, doctors need better options.
Scientists at the University of Minnesota have found something exciting that could help. They studied a type of immune cell called “natural killer” cells. These cells are part of our body’s defense system. They go around looking for harmful cells like viruses and cancer cells. When they find them, they try to destroy them.
But in many cancer patients, these natural killer cells are not strong enough to kill all the cancer cells. In the past, doctors have tried using these cells as a treatment, but the results were not always great. Some patients got better, but others didn’t see much change.
So the scientists tried something simple—they added vitamin B3, also known as nicotinamide, to the natural killer cells. This vitamin is usually known for helping our bodies turn food into energy.
But the researchers discovered that when they treated these immune cells with vitamin B3 in the lab, the cells got stronger. They worked faster and better at finding and killing cancer cells. Even more, the vitamin helped the cells live longer, so they didn’t wear out too quickly.
Next, they tested this on real patients. They worked with 30 people who had very difficult-to-treat blood cancers. The results were promising.
In one group of 19 patients with a type of cancer called lymphoma, 11 people fully recovered after getting the vitamin-boosted cells. Three others showed some recovery. And all of this happened in less than a month. That gave both doctors and patients hope.
Vitamin B3 has an interesting history. Back in the 1930s, doctors discovered that people who didn’t get enough of this vitamin could get very sick with a disease called pellagra. It caused skin problems, stomach issues, and even mental confusion. The cure was simple—just add vitamin B3 to their diet. This saved many lives.
Now, scientists are finding that the same vitamin might also help in the fight against cancer. They still need to test this method with more people to make sure it’s safe and works well.
But if those future tests go well, this could become a new treatment for patients who don’t have many other choices. A simple vitamin we find in everyday foods might soon become part of advanced cancer care.
This discovery also shows how important food and nutrients are for our health. Something as basic as a vitamin can make our body’s immune system stronger and help us fight serious diseases. Scientists will keep studying how to use vitamins in new ways—not just to keep us healthy, but to help us heal.
For people with hard-to-treat blood cancers, this new method may bring more than treatment. It may bring real hope.
If you care about nutrition, please read studies that vitamin D can help reduce inflammation, and vitamin K may lower your heart disease risk by a third.
For more health information, please see recent studies about foods that could sharp your brain, and results showing cooking food in this way may raise your risk of blindness.
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