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Cell suicide

There's a story out today stating that scientists at the University of Illinois have found a way to make cancer cells "commit suicide" thereby "stopping [cancer] in its tracks." If this research can eventually made into some kind of medical treatment, other than side-effect-filled chemotherapy and radiation therapy, this is great news!

Here's a sample of the news coverage today --
Medical News Today: Making Cancer Cells Commit Suicide
Scientific American: New Compound Causes Cancer Cell Suicide
BBC News: Cancer Cell "Executioner" Found
New Scientist: Reawakened "Executioner" Makes Cancer Self-Destruct
MedIndia: A Synthetic Molecule Instigates Cancer Cells to Self-Harm

I'm probably the only one that finds this curious, but I was very surprised by the "non politically correct" language that was used in describing this news story. If a person committed suicide, would that be in the headline? Would the word "executioner" be used in a headline? Maybe I think about things too much. You're right, I should just get back to work.