Patients are placed inside an MRI machine. They are given a drug to keep them from moving during the procedure. A special needle is inserted directly into the tumor and light energy is passed through a laser.

The MRI machine can measure the temperature inside the tumor. Doctors are able to watch a monitor showing the temperature rising. When the tumor is heated to the point of destruction, the laser is turned off. The whole process lasts about two and a half minutes.

FAITH LAPIDUS: Doctor Walser first used the MRI-guided laser procedure in June. The Mayo Clinic reported that he had successfully treated five patients by the middle of October.

Earlier this year, doctors at the Mayo Clinic in Minnesota used MRI-guided laser ablation to remove tumors of the prostate. Doctor David Woodrum has successfully treated seven prostate patients with the procedure. He says it provides for a less invasive and less traumatic experience.

The process is still being developed, but doctors say it could prove to be successful for treating most cancers in the body. The doctors say it should only be used on tumors that are less than five centimeters in size.

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BOB DOUGHTY: Malaria kills about one million people a year and sickens another two hundred fifty million. Most of the deaths are in young children in Africa. People become infected when they are bitten by mosquitoes carrying the malaria parasite.