Dr. Daniel Costa, far left, and Dr. Yair Lotan, standing center, directed the first procedure in Texas that used magnetic resonance imaging to guide focused ultrasound to destroy a patient’s prostate cancer cells.

Dr. Daniel Costa, Assistant Professor of Radiology, and Dr. Yair Lotan, Professor of Urology, recently completed treatment of localized prostate cancer using transurethral ultrasound therapy, guided by magnetic resonance imaging. It was the first time the procedure had been performed in Texas.

“A lot of planning and time was invested into this protocol by several individuals over many months,” said Dr. Ivan Pedrosa, Chief of the Division of Magnetic Resonance Imaging, Professor of Radiology and with the Advanced Imaging Research Center, who holds the Jack Reynolds, M.D. Chair in Radiology. “The procedure went very smoothly and they were able to finish the entire treatment (from start of anesthesia to patient leaving the MRI) within four hours, which is remarkable for the first case.”

Designed to potentially reduce the long-term complications of surgery and radiation therapy, such as incontinence and impotence, the new outpatient procedure uses MRI guidance to allow physicians to precisely target the delivery of thermal (heat) therapy to the prostate gland with an ultrasound device inserted in the urethra, thereby sparing nerves and organs from potential damage.