No, the tumor is the cells growing out of control, not some separate thing that acts on the genes of nearby cells. Once cells have mutated into a tumor, it's a bit late to make them less prone to doing so.
The article mentions possibly treating/curing cancer: "He believes there could be a drug that could mimic the effect of p53, or a way to deliver these genes to people at risk of developing cancer, or who already have it to treat or cure the disease."
Method of cellular death doesn't really matter, at this level of discussion of a hypothetical cure. Targeting does. And this strikes me as killing a mosquito with a cannon. If you can ensure universal targeting, there are much easier ways.