Capsaicin, which makes peppers hot, led 80 percent of human prostate cancer cells growing in mice to commit suicide in a process known as apoptosis, researchers said.

Lehmann estimated that the mice ate the human equivalent of 400 milligrams of capsaicin three times a week. That is about the amount found in three to eight fresh habanero peppers, depending on how hot the peppers are.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20060316/ts_nm/cancer_prostate_dc

[ That's more spice than most people will eat, but it shows us nature using a chemotherapy-like method: flood the body with irritants to shake off parasites. Maybe this explains crime and pollution in society. ]