When it comes to your health, you never want to settle for second best. When faced with a health concern, no matter how big or small, you want to be sure that you receive the highest level of care from the most experienced health care professionals. Your body deserves the best!
So if you or someone you love is diagnosed with skin cancer, you want to choose the treatment option with the highest chance of success. Mohs micrographic surgery is a technique used to treat Basal Cell Carcinoma and Squamous Cell Carcinoma and is the single most effective technique for removing these cancers. One of the reasons why the Mohs technique is still so widely used among surgeons today is because it completely removes cancerous cells while maintaining the greatest amount of healthy skin tissue. With the Mohs technique, cure rates for these common cancers are 98 percent.
The first step in any skin cancer treatment is to remove the melanoma. This is typically done by cutting it from the skin with a standard scalpel. With standard excision, a “safety margin” of heathy skin will be removed along with the tumor because the naked eye cannot determine how far microscopic strands of tumor may have extended into the skin. This means that the sample must be sent away to a lab and patients may have to wait several days for the results.
However, patients can elect to have Mohs micrographic surgery, a surgical procedure that minimizes the removal of healthy tissue. With this surgery, thin layers of cancerous skin are removed and examined under a microscope right in the room or in the office. If the surgeon determines that not all of the tumor has been removed, he or she will repeat the process until only cancer-free tissue remains.
In addition to one of the highest cure rates for common skin cancer, Mohs micrographic surgery reduces the errors that can occur with other skin cancer treatments. A Mohs surgeons serves as both the physician and a pathologist which vastly reduces the risk of miscommunication. The decrease in the amount of healthy tissue removed also minimizes the risk for complications and scarring.
The Dermatology Center of Indiana services Brownsburg, Cicero, Crawfordsville, and Fishers along with many other cities throughout Indiana. We’d love the chance to meet with you and talk about your skin concerns and answer your questions. Give us a call today!
Disclaim: This blog provides general information and discussion about medical, cosmetic, mohs, and surgical dermatology. The words and other content provided in this blog, and in any linked materials, are not intended and should not be construed as medical advice. If the reader or any other person has a medical concern, he or she should consult with an appropriately-licensed dermatologist or other health care worker.