Common Questions About Mohs Surgery Answered

Mohs surgery is a skin cancer treatment often recommended for basal and squamous cell sarcomas, as it requires taking as little healthy tissue as possible while removing all the affected skin. Sometimes, at Dermatology Associates Skin & Cancer Center, serving Panama City, FL, and the nearby region, a dermatological specialist may also recommend it for melanoma, though that's less common. So, what should you know about this procedure?

How Is Mohs Surgery Different Than Other Techniques?

Mohs surgery is a skin cancer treatment that requires a practitioner from our Panama City, FL, dermatological practice to remove as little tissue as possible. However, we still take as much of the tumor as possible. Ultimately, this means less scarring and an improved healing time for you. Additionally, it also touts a higher success rate than other techniques. 

To perform this surgery, a dermatology surgeon will remove layer after layer of skin where the tumor is. After each layer, our practitioner will view the tissue under a microscope to see if any cancerous cells are present. Since each layer is thin, we can stop removing further layers once we detect you no longer have cancerous tissue.

What Is the Success Rate of Mohs Surgery?

Overall, Mohs surgery provides for a 99-percent success rate. We'd like to note that it's highly successful for high-risk cases and patients with skin cancer in sensitive or highly exposed areas where aesthetics matters.

We'd like to note that even in recurring cases of skin cancer, it still offers a 95-percent success rate. 

What Are the Benefits of This Surgery?

Besides its high success rate, this procedure causes minimal scarring and heals in less time than other surgical options. Even the recurrence rate with this procedure is lower than other options.

Why Isn't Mohs Surgery Used for Melanoma as Often as Other Forms?

While melanoma cases can be treated with Mohs, this isn't standard. This form of skin cancer tends to be found when it's deeper because it's typically a more aggressive cancer. Mohs surgery is for superficial skin layers only, which means it may not remove all the cancer with melanoma. Because melanoma is the one that spreads beyond the skin more often than other forms, this procedure limits how much tissue is taken, which can make staging difficult, possibly missing that it's spread to lymph nodes.

If you have a concern about a mole or blemish, we advise you to schedule a visit with one of the practitioners at Dermatology Associates Skin & Cancer Center, serving Panama City, FL, and the neighboring communities. We can determine if it's cancer and if Mohs surgery is the best option. 

Call 850-769-7546 today.