Receiving a cancer diagnosis is a huge shocker, and like grief, people respond in different ways. But I hope it's not common for people to respond like this woman in Quebec City, who committed suicide by setting herself on fire on the day her chemo treatments were set to begin. She burned herself beyond recognition in a car alongside two propane tanks. Next to the the vehicle, police found some personal affects and a suicide note.

Apparently, this is not unheard of, as people are often at risk of suicide after receiving bad news. Still, considering all the advances that are happening each day in the medical field, it's a shame that she couldn't stick around to have her hope and health restored. My thoughts go out to her family.

In laboratory testing, by targeting the FoxM1 gene, a little-known antibiotic has been proven effective as an anti-cancer treatment, according to University of Illinois researchers.

As the researchers explain, the FoxM1 gene is responsible for turning on genes needed for cell proliferation and turning off genes that block proliferation. Uncontrolled proliferation is characteristic of cancer cells. The antibiotic, siomycin A, appears to suppress the activity of the FoxM1 gene.

During the research, the antibiotic was found to be non-toxic and prompted cancer cells into a process called apoptosis, or cancer cell suicide, without damaging surrounding cells. More testing with need to be done before the drug can reach the clinical trial phase. The study will be published in the October issue of Cancer Research.

Isothiocyanates, chemical compounds found in cruciferous vegetables such as broccoli, Brussels sprouts and watercress are able to kill cancer cells that have become resistant to chemotherapy drugs, according to the Free Radical Research Group research team from Christchurch School of Medicine and Health Sciences, University of Otago.

Basically, isothiocyanates drive cancer cells, and the protein Bcl-2 that seems to aid cancer cells in surviving, to apoptosis or in more descriptive terms -- a self-destructing suicide. The researchers are hoping this discovery might lead to the development of cancer-fighting drugs derived from isothiocyanates.

In the meantime, as they work on better cancer-fighting drugs based on beneficial chemical compounds found in foods, it won't hurt us to eat more veggies. Okay, except for the current recall of E. coli contaminated spinach. Right now, don't eat your spinach.

While the study suggests that not all cruciferous vegetable are equal in the ability to kill cancer cells, and specifically refers only to broccoli, Brussels sprouts and watercress -- other cruciferous vegetables include arugula, cauliflower, cabbage, Bok Choy, rutabaga, Chinese cabbage, Daikon, radishes, turnips, kohlrabi, kale, and turnip, mustard and collard greens.

Eccentric hotelier and television personality Tim Hadcock-Mackay, who is reported to have been an active fundraiser for Sargent Cancer Care for Children, was found hanged. While the police investigating do not suspect foul play, nothing at this time has been ruled out.

According to news reports, Hadcock-Mackay was found in the woodlands behind his lavish 19th century manor Barnby Moor Hall. At the time of his death, Hadcock-Mackay and life partner Torquil Mackenzie-Buist were in talks for a new television show featuring their home to the public called Mayhem At The Manor.

On July 20 in Portland, Oregon, Pearl Jam held a benefit concert for the Northwest Chapter of the Crohn's and Colitis Foundation of America (CCFA) to raise awareness for a disease no one likes to discuss. Pearl Jam guitarist Mike McCready was diagnosed with Crohn's disease and ulcerative colitis twenty years ago and has gone public with what he personally felt for many years was an embarrassing disease.

McCready, a spokesperson for the NW Chapter of CCFA, said, "Having struggled with Crohn's disease for more than 20 years and experienced first hand difficulties in getting a diagnosis and treatment, I want to help others learn about the disease, how it is affecting them and how to find ways to cope."

UCB, a leading global biopharmaceutical company that recently launched Crohns and Me, an information and resource website for people with Crohn's disease, joined with CCFA, in sponsoring the Pearl Jam Portland benefit concert.

Vitamin E succinate, classified as an antioxidant, is currently sold as a nutritional supplement. Knowing that vitamin E succinate -- or alpha tocopheryl succinate -- had some antioxidant ability to kill cancer cells, researchers decided to study how it worked in order to find a way to enhance the antioxidant compound into a more powerful and potent cancer chemopreventive agent. Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center researchers were successful in discovering how the derivative of vitamin E functions that might lead to the development of an enhanced version to fight cancer. However, according to researchers, the power of vitamin E succinate to send cancer cells into a suicidal death, does not come from the antioxidant abilities of the derivative. The antitumor ability of the derivative is a separate function. Because of this, researchers state they believe their findings could lead to a potent chemopreventive agent that has both strong anticancer and antioxidant properties.

Texas cancer researchers are reporting significant success in survival rates of men with recurrent prostate cancer when treated with a one-two combination of radiation and suicide gene therapy -- all of which might one day lead to an effective long term prostate cancer vaccine. The Methodist Hospital in Houston researchers, who conducted the five-year study, reported improvement in patients with all stages of prostate cancer undergoing the combination treatment when compared to the results of patients receiving standard radiation at other institutions.

According to researchers, low-risk patients had 100 percent survival rate at five years, and the intermediate and high risk group had 90 percent survival rate at five years. “This method not only treats the tumor area with radiation,” said Dr. Brian Butler, chief of radiation oncology at The Methodist Hospital in Houston. “But it also creates a system of assassins to go out and look for these cancer cells throughout the body. We are using the body’s own immunological system to help identify the cancer and kill it.” Amazing. To read about the researchers use of a common cold virus and the potential future of a prostate cancer vaccine, go here.

Several weeks ago, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center and UCLA researchers reported that capsaicin in habanero peppers had the power to drive prostate cancer cells to commit suicide.

In a new and different study done by University of Pittsburgh Medical Center researchers, capsaicin is reported to have the same cancer-fighting properties in preventing or slowing the growth of pancreatic cancer tumors. Capsaicin appears to signal pancreatic cancer cells to follow pathways leading to their own cellular death too. Pancreatic cancer is the fifth-leading cause of cancer death in the United States and is one of the most aggressive cancers, with an extremely poor prognosis.

All in all, it is beginning to look like cancer cells do not seem able to stand the heat, but if you can, chili peppers might be a good idea to include in your cancer prevention diet. There is a magazine devoted to all the varieties of the chili pepper, called Chili Pepper, that includes recipes for every meal of the day, including appetizers and desserts.