alt Hacker News> Pieper emphasized that current over-the-counter NAD+-precursors have been shown in animal models to raise cellular NAD+ to dangerously high levels that promote cancer.
Does this mean that people are having to trade Alzheimer in exchange for high risk of cancer? Or does this mean that we need better precursors that don't require that trade off?
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Keep reading:
> Pieper emphasized that current over-the-counter NAD+-precursors have been shown in animal models to raise cellular NAD+ to dangerously high levels that promote cancer. The pharmacological approach in this study, however, uses a pharmacologic agent (P7C3-A20) that enables cells to maintain their proper balance of NAD+ under conditions of otherwise overwhelming stress, without elevating NAD+ to supraphysiologic levels.
I think it means one should read the very next sentence:
> Pieper emphasized that current over-the-counter NAD+-precursors have been shown in animal models to raise cellular NAD+ to dangerously high levels that promote cancer. The pharmacological approach in this study, however, uses a pharmacologic agent (P7C3-A20) that enables cells to maintain their proper balance of NAD+ under conditions of otherwise overwhelming stress, without elevating NAD+ to supraphysiologic levels.
It means we have no idea if this would work or how it would work, and discussing it as a treatment for humans is badly mistaken.
It's a quality of life vs years left calculation you have to make on a case by case basis.
There's no good evidence that supplementation with NMN, NR, etc. increases the risk of cancer in healthy people. There's some speculation that it might be risky for people with cancer to take those supplements, but the picture is far from clear. Some papers even suggest that they can be beneficial. (e.g., https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC10177531/ )
In terms of risk-benefit analysis, if this stuff actually cures Alzheimer's, then even a 10x increased risk of cancer (all types) is acceptable, as Alzheimer's is frequently a fate worse than death whereas cancer can be managed whilst keeping your personality and sanity intact. In reality, the increased risk of cancer from something like NMN is perhaps 1.005x. To all appearances, totally negligible.
The problem, for Pieper, is that NMN/NR/NADH are ubiquitous and cost pennies per dose. So, if they work (big if), this new research is unmonetizable. The team leads would win a Nobel Prize, but Big Pharma gigabucks are out of the question. Let's see what happens.