I've been a patient there for 3 years for Sarcoma in the thigh. This is one of the two finest cancer research facilities in the world--along with Sloan-Kettering in NYC. And by far the most patient-oriented, uplifting hospital I've ever seen.
The principles of radiation therapy and chemo are balanced approaches that find the weakness of cancer cells (their need to constantly grow and multiply) and hurts those cells worse than the normal cells around them. It is true that all cells suffer in this, but the normal cells can survive while high numbers of cancer cells die.
The concept of putting nanoparticles that are attracted to the higher blood flow and faster cell division in cancer cells does not sound all that far-fetched. If a radio-pulse then explodes these nano-particles in the focused path to the tumor, then the peripheral damage could be quite small.
Let's all pray that this treatment gets approval quickly if it works. To have such a major research player as MD Anderson behind you is a powerful indicator that this stuff is for real.
You actually sound like you know more about the proposed technique than the article describes... are you looking at a better article? If so, pass along the link, I'd like to read it :)
I'm concerned about the "higher blood flow" statement you cite as being the mechanism for the nanos to tag cancer cells... as I recall there are some cancerous situations in which the cancer cells actually get *less* blood flow, as the capillaries become constricted. Does this mean the nanos would sort of miss those cancer cells or not reach them as effectively? and thus the RF treatment would fail on such formations?
This kind of detail is why I need a better article to read :)
Unless the lesions are in some place like the heart valves or the brain. I wonder if anyone is pursuing using a meson gun on cancer cells?