Does NMN Promote Cancer Growth?

NMN has a powerful & positive effect on the activity of our bodies’ longevity proteins called Sirtuins. Our Sirtuins are responsible for the repair and maintenance of our bodies’ cells and systems that keep us healthy.

This desirable effect promotes our anti-aging processes and allows the cells in our bodies to repair and function at optimum levels.

But there’s a suggestion that this harmonious relationship between NMN, Sirtuins and, our health may not be as benign as we thought.

The problem is cancerous cells.
These cells act like every other cell in the body. They aim to survive and multiply, and they also benefit from Sirtuin repair, just like any other cell, so the question is –
“If NMN increases cell longevity and growth does NMN fuel cancerous cells?”

This article will look at the latest research to understand whether or not NMN has an impact on tumor growth & cancer.

NMN Effects on Cancerous Tumors 

Pan et al, 2021, studied the effects of NMN on tumor formation in mice. Mice were administered NMN for two weeks, then they were subcutaneously injected with mouse lung cancer cells to form tumors.
When the tumor volume reached around 300mm3 the mice were then intraperitoneally injected with NMN for three weeks. After this the tumor size, volume and incidence rate were measured.
Because of NMN’s ability to enhance NAD+ levels, the researchers hypothesized that NMN administration would promote and exacerbate cancerous growths.

Their Findings

They found that NMN treatment did NOT promote cancerous growth and furthermore, that NMN did not prevent cancerous growth.
 “NMN does not affect the proliferation of tumor cells in vivo”.

Table 1. NMN vs Control on Cancer Growth

 

There was no observable difference in the tumor volume between mice injected with NMN and the control group. They further investigated the extent of the cancerous cells by examining “IL-1b, IL-6, TNF-a, and CXCL-12 expression in serum by ELISA in the two groups, … there was no significant difference between the NMN group and NaCl group”.

All of the key markers showed that NMN did not promote the activity and growth of cancerous cells. Interestingly Pan et al, 2021 did find that the mice treated with NMN experienced significant weight loss.

The “weight of NMN treated nude mice significantly reduced”.
This is not surprising given studies that have found NMN can have dramatic improvements in weight-related illnesses like diabetes.
“NMN may have beneficial effects on obesity and overweight induced diseases”.

Once again NMN was found to have no observable effect on tumor growth.
The link between NMN fuelled NAD+ and cancer has been tenuous at best. Nikas et al, 2020 looked at the role of NAD+ precursor Nicotinamide and stated that it had “potential as a safe, well-tolerated, and cost-effective agent to be used in cancer chemoprevention and therapy”.

Contrary to the opinion that NMN can promote cancerous growth the following study looks at how NAD+ can supplement our immune systems’ response to tumors. Morandi et al, 2021, focused on T Cells and their important role in our immune systems’ fight against disease. They found that:
“NAD⁺ is essential for anti-tumor activity [in T Cells]”.
Furthermore, they looked at ways of suppressing CD38, an ecto-enzyme that helps suppress the immune response. They found that:

 “CD38 loss, and consequent extracellular NAD⁺ increase, is the key to implement anti-tumor activity of T cells”.

Their research points to the potential benefits of “NAD+ precursors such as… NMN” because “restoring NAD⁺ levels may increase the efficacy of standard therapies for patients with solid and hematological tumors”.

Does NMN Cause Cancer?
NMN has not been shown to promote or exacerbate cancerous growths. The positive connection between NMN, sirtuin activity and NAD+ does allow for cellular longevity, but this does not seem to promote the longevity or strength of tumors.
It may seem odd that a supplement that increases the ‘fuel & longevity’ of our bodily cells does not seem to have an effect on our bodies’ cancerous cells but the evidence tells us that it doesn’t.

Perhaps a reason for this is that the many benefits of NMN such as weight loss or muscle performance are just the outward symptoms of a more holistic and beneficial process. A cellular process beneath the surface that nurtures our bodies’ ability to fight cancer or a process that may inhibit some of the factors behind cell mutation.

Of course, this is just speculation. We do not know why NMN has a positive influence on cellular longevity while avoiding increased cancerous cell activity.
What we do know is that there is an overwhelming body of evidence stating that NMN does NOT promote or cause cancer.

So if you are using NMN to supplement your bodies’ anti-aging processes, this article should give you some peace of mind, and if you’ve not yet experienced the benefits of NMN maybe you should give it a try!

References

Pan, F., Kang, S., Zhao, Y., Dai, L., Shao, Q., Yang, Y., … Cui, L. (2021). Effect of β-nicotinamide mononucleotide on tumor formation and growth in a lung cancer mouse model. Materials Chemistry Frontiers. doi:10.1039/d0qm00897d Pan, F., Kang, S., Zhao, Y., Dai, L., Shao, Q., Yang, Y., … Cui, L. (2021). Effect of β-nicotinamide mononucleotide on tumor formation and growth in a lung cancer mouse model. Materials Chemistry Frontiers. doi:10.1039/d0qm00897d Pan, F., Kang, S., Zhao, Y., Dai, L., Shao, Q., Yang, Y., … Cui, L. (2021). Effect of β-nicotinamide mononucleotide on tumor formation and growth in a lung cancer mouse model. Materials Chemistry Frontiers. doi:10.1039/d0qm00897d

Nikas, Ilias P et al. “The Role of Nicotinamide in Cancer Chemoprevention and Therapy.” Biomolecules vol. 10,3 477. 20 Mar. 2020, doi:10.3390/biom10030477

Morandi, Fabio et al. “The Key Role of NAD⁺ in Anti-Tumor Immune Response: An Update.” Frontiers in immunology vol. 12 658263. 15 Apr. 2021, doi:10.3389/fimmu.2021.658263