Are Moles a Health Concern?
Moles are common skin lesions, and most are harmless. But moles can change, too, and sometimes those changes are concerning. Learn more about mole types, including when they might increase your skin cancer risk.
How Does Mohs Surgery Work?
Known for its skin-sparing precision, high cure rate, low recurrence rate, and exceptional cosmetic results, Mohs surgery is the gold-standard solution for high-risk nonmelanoma skin cancers. This includes basal cell (BCCs) and squamous cell carcinomas (SCCs) on the:
- Lips and cheeks
- Nose and eyelids
- Ears and scalp
- Genital region
- Hands and feet
If you’ve been diagnosed with nonmelanoma skin cancer, Mohs surgery very well may be the most important part of your treatment plan at Manhattan Dermatology.
Here, our team explains how this minimally invasive micrographic method extracts all malignant cells, one thin layer at a time, while preserving as much healthy tissue as possible.
Mohs micrographic surgery basics
Named for Dr. Fredric E. Mohs, the general surgeon and cancer researcher who conceived the ultra-precise surgical technique in the 1930s — and helped develop it into a treatment for skin cancer in the 1960s — Mohs micrographic surgery is considered the gold-standard treatment for nonmelanoma skin cancer removal today.
The Mohs method has two goals: To eliminate skin cancer cells completely and with utmost precision, and to preserve as much healthy skin tissue as possible in the process.
It stands in stark contrast to other skin cancer excision techniques, which aim to ensure complete tumor removal by cutting away a wide margin of healthy skin tissue along with the malignant cells.
Steps of a Mohs surgery procedure
The advanced Mohs technique makes it possible to remove skin cancer tumors — including lesions with irregular borders as well as aggressive tumors that spread inward like tree roots — while leaving healthy surrounding tissues mostly untouched.
After numbing the treatment area with a local anesthetic, we meticulously remove all skin cancer cells in three basic steps:
Step 1: Tumor and margin removal
First, we remove the visible cancer tumor along with a very small margin of surrounding skin tissue. We mark both the marginal tissue sample and the surgical site for reference. This step typically takes just a few minutes.
Step 2: Margin analysis and mapping
Next, we place the excised marginal tissue in a microscope slide and carefully examine it in an on-site lab. Proper analysis during this part of the process can take up to an hour.
If we find cancer cells, we map the location to pinpoint their exact position relative to the corresponding adjacent tissue at the surgical site.
Step 3: Excision until clearance
We repeat the second step as necessary, but only for the marginal tissue sections that contain cancer cells. In some cases, Mohs surgery takes just one stage to complete, meaning the entire first margin of skin is totally clear of cancer cells.
More typically, it takes up to three rounds of meticulous marginal tissue excision and examination until we detect no more cancer cells. Before each consecutive round of surgery, you may receive another anesthetic injection to ensure pain-free comfort.
Finishing the Mohs process
Depending on the size and depth of the treated area, we may leave your surgical site to heal naturally, or we may expertly close it with stitches, or repair it with a skin graft.
Mohs skin cancer removal benefits
Mohs is the gold standard in skin cancer care because it achieves total nonmelanoma skin cancer removal with minimal disruption to healthy tissue. Benefits include:
- Near total precision; ensures that no skin cancer remains
- Minimally invasive; minimizes the risk of disfiguring scars
- Highest cure rate of all skin cancer treatments (up to 99%)
- Lowest recurrence rate of all skin cancer surgery techniques
- Best cosmetic results, especially for delicate, sensitive areas
- Convenient care; the treatment completed in a single visit
Do you want to learn more about Mohs surgery? Contact your nearest Manhattan Dermatology office in the Murray Hill or Midtown East neighborhoods of Manhattan, New York City, to schedule a visit with our experts today.
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