 [ Symptoms ] does niacin cause cancer  i have started taking niacin to increase my hdl for the last 3 months i have taken 400mg a day and had 1 beer a day both were things i found on several wed sites to increase hdl most other things listed i was already doing my hdl was 37 and after 3 months it was 42 i was planning on stopping the beer a day and continuing the niacin to see which was causing the improved results then a co worker said he was told niacin can cause cancer [ Disease ] most helpful answer no niacin does not cause cancer