Mohs micrographic surgery is an advanced treatment for skin cancer which offers the highest cure rate of any treatment modality, surgical or non-surgical. As an in office, same day procedure using local anesthetic, Mohs surgery relies on ‘real time’ tissue processing and the precision and accuracy of a microscope to trace and ensure complete removal of skin cancer and its ‘roots’. It is a state-of-the-art procedure in which the physician serves as the surgeon, pathologist and reconstructive surgeon.
Skin cancer is the most common type of cancer in New Mexico and the United States. In fact, skin cancer is more common than all other types of cancer combined. The two most common types of skin cancer- basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma- are highly curable. Melanoma is less common and potentially more dangerous than the other types of skin cancer. Mohs surgery is used primarily to treat basal and squamous cell carcinoma, but also can be used to treat less common cancers. The cure rate for Mohs surgery is as high as 99% for basal cell carcinoma and 95% for squamous cell carcinoma and recurrent cancers. Mohs surgery achieves these exceptional cure rates by the unique horizontal tissue processing (‘en face’) which enables visualization of 100% of the tissue margin in the perimeter and depth. This ‘en face’ tissue processing is in contrast to the normal vertical tissue processing used by pathology labs which allows visualization of 1% of the margin. Mohs surgery is not typically used to treat melanoma.
THE MOHS COLLEGE DIFFERENCE
The American College of Mohs Surgery (ACMS) was founded in 1967 by Dr. Frederic E. Mohs, the pioneering creator of the Mohs micrographic surgical technique. It is the only organization that requires its members to have successfully completed an extensive one- to two-year ACMS-approved fellowship training program after they have completed their years of residency training. About 50 new Mohs surgeons are trained nationally every year. From its inception, the ACMS has promoted and continues to set the highest standard of patient care relating to Mohs micrographic surgery through it fellowship training process. During training, ACMS members must have participated in at least 500 Mohs micrographic surgery cases under the supervision of an experienced, ACMS-approved Mohs surgeon. With their additional one- to two-years of advanced fellowship training in Mohs micrographic surgery, ACMS surgeons have learned to precisely identify the cancer, remove it with minimal damage to the surrounding healthy tissue, and reconstruct the wound. After completion of the fellowship training year, the Mohs surgeon is considered an associate member of the ACMS. After four years post fellowship practice and a required number of cases, the Mohs surgeon is elected by the ACMS as a fellow of their college. This cost effective method produces the smallest wound, the smallest scar, yet the highest cure rate of any other modality.
You can find more information on the Mohs surgery process at www.SkinCancerMohsSurgery.org