Surgery For Skin Cancer

By Allan Harrington, MD

Anne Arundel Dermatology

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Surgery For Skin Cancer

Each year approximately 700,000 people develop skin cancer, making it the most common malignancy. Ten thousand people die each year from skin cancer, mostly from melanoma.

Caucasians comprise most of the skin cancer cases with an incidence of approximately one in 100, while 3 per 100,000 African Americans will develop skin cancer.

Several factors play a role in the development of skin cancer.Sun is one of the most important factors, and one that we can best control. Since children, by the age of 15, have already received 50% of the sun exposure they will receive in a lifetime, methods of sun protection must be initiated at an early age.

The most common types of skin cancer are basal cell carcinoma, squamous carcinoma, and melanoma. Precancerous lesions such as actinic keratoses and dysplastic nevi, which may develop into squamous cell carcinoma and melanoma respectively, are also important to recognize.Early detection and treatment can often result in a cure.

Mohs surgery is a specialized treatment for the removal of skin cancer. This method differs from other methods of treating skin cancer by using microscopic examination of surgically removed tissue and detailed mapping techniques that allow the surgeon to track and remove all the extensions of the skin cancer.

The cure rate with Mohs Micrographic Surgery is greater than 99%. In previously treated cancers in which the tumor is recurrent, Mohs surgery is 95% effective.

Mohs surgery is most useful in treating skin cancers in cosmetically sensitive areas such as areas of the face, including nose, ears, eyelids and lips; or in treating skin cancers which have a growth pattern associated with a high risk of recurrence.

The two most common type of skin cancers treated with Mohs surgery are basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma. Both of these tumors can grow beyond what is seen on the skin's surface and can extend along structures such as nerves, blood vessels and scars. With the Mohs technique, these extensions can be followed and removed.