Mohs Surgery
Mohs surgery is a minimally invasive outpatient procedure that results in the highest cure rates and causes only minor skin and tissue damage when treating skin cancer.
A layer of skin surrounding a lesion is removed and examined under a microscope to determine the location and spread of tumor roots. If tumor roots are present at the margin, smaller parcels of skin are removed only in the direction where tumor roots are present, as shown on the image. When no more roots are detected at the margin and the cancer has been cured, the affected area is cosmetically repaired.
Mohs surgery is performed within two to eight hours, depending on the extent of the cancer, and it only requires local anesthesia.
'Mayo Clinic Minute'
Watch this "Mayo Clinic Minute" video to learn how Mohs surgery is used to fight skin cancer:
Learn more
For more information, visit the American College of Mohs Surgery.
