Facts on Mohs Surgery

In years past, surgery for skin cancer meant the removal of large portions of skin around the actual cancer, to insure that the cancer itself was completely removed. While this made for a high success rate, it also meant large areas of scar tissue and further treatment with skin grafts. For the many people who had skin cancer on their face, this meant a life time of disfigurement but at the time this was all that the medical community had to offer.

Now there is a surgical treatment that is available that is called “Micrographic surgery”, also commonly referred to as Mohs, that removes minimal tissue and results in far less scarring. In fact, in many cases of Mohs surgery the patient is left with no visible scarring, as only the exact area that is cancerous is removed, that can be repaired with a small graft at the time the surgery is performed. Rather then removing a large section of tissue as was done in the past, a small grid work is laid out over the cancerous area that is used as a guide for the surgeon doing the operation.

Section by section, the cancerous area is removed and then tested until its outside edges have been reached. By performing the surgery using this exact and meticulous method, only the cancer is removed and healthy tissue is left intact. There are three common forms of skin cancer that afflict people and they vary in severity, starting with “Basal Cell Carcinoma”, that begins on the skins surface and is therefore the least severe. Squamous Cell Carcinoma” is the next level up in severity, as it is faster growing. Melanomas are the most serious forms of skin cancer as they effect deeper skin layers and spread the fastest.

Written by Alesandra Gibson. Find the latest information on mohs as well as mohs consulting