Surgical Skin Cancer Excision

Surgical removal of skin cancers is the standard of care for the more locally invasive types of skin cancers. Examples include nodular Basal Cell Carcinoma, Morpheaform Basal Cell Carcinoma, invasive morpheaform, Squamous Cell Carcinoma & Keratoacanthoma.

In the case of Melanoma, these skin cancers are always removed via wide margin excision. Additional testing may be necessary (lymph node examination, PET scan) depending on its stage of development.

Simple Electrodesiccation and Curettage may be the treatment of choice for the more superficial & early diagnosed skin cancer such as Superficial Basal Cell Carcinoma and Squamous Cell Carcinoma in-situ.

New treatments for skin cancer are appearing and evolving rapidly in recent years. However, one surgical technique has more than stood the test of time. Developed by Dr. Frederick Mohs in the 1930s, Mohs micrographic surgery has, with a few refinements, come to be embraced over the past decade by an increasing number of surgeons for an ever-widening variety of skin cancers. Today, Mohs surgery has come to be accepted as the single most effective technique for removing Basal Cell Carcinoma and Squamous Cell Carcinoma (BCCs and SCCs), the two most common skin cancers.

It accomplishes the nifty trick of sparing the greatest amount of healthy tissue while also most completely expunging cancer cells; cure rates for BCC and SCC are an unparalleled 98 percent or higher with Mohs, significantly better than the rates for standard excision or any other accepted method.