About 20% of people in the United States develop skin cancer at some point during their life. That’s one out of every five people you know.
Skin cancer is treatable, especially when it’s caught early. And with treatments like Mohs surgery, skin cancer is 95 to 99% curable.
At Associated Skin Care Specialists, our team includes board-certified dermatologists with advanced training in Mohs surgery, and we want you to know why the procedure has such a high success rate.
Mohs surgery is a specialized treatment for skin cancer. It involves removing the visible cancerous lesion and then thin layers of skin underneath until the surgeon reaches cancer-free skin.
Our surgeons perform Mohs surgery at the office using a local anesthetic to keep you comfortable. After removing each single layer of skin, the dermatologist carefully examines the specimen under a microscope and looks for cancer cells.
Because of the meticulous process, Mohs surgery takes longer than other skin cancer treatments such as surgical excision. Patients getting Mohs surgery for their skin cancer should plan on spending a few hours at the office on the day of their procedure.
Unlike other procedures for skin cancer, Mohs surgery only removes the cancerous tissue, not any of the surrounding healthy tissue. This leads to smaller, less noticeable scars.
The Skin Cancer Foundation calls Mohs surgery the gold standard treatment for skin cancer because of how successfully it cures cancer. But why does Mohs surgery have such a high success rate?
Because it removes all of the cancer during one procedure. You don’t leave the office until we reach healthy skin.
Other surgical techniques remove all the cancer they see, along with surrounding skin. But cancer cells that are not visible may remain, increasing the risk of recurrence.
Mohs surgery ensures that all the cancer is removed, decreasing the likelihood of regrowth.
We perform Mohs surgery to treat the two most common forms of skin cancer, basal cell carcinoma (BCC) and squamous cell carcinoma (SCC). We use it less often for melanoma — the least common form of skin cancer, and the deadliest.
We may recommend Mohs surgery if you have BCC or SCC lesions that are large, fast-growing, or on a more visible part of the body, like the face. Our surgeons also perform Mohs surgery on recurring lesions and may recommend the surgery to treat early stage melanoma.
Not everyone with skin cancer needs Mohs surgery, but we do suggest the procedure when we think it will provide the best outcome.
If you are concerned about skin growths you may have, don’t wait to get checked out. Call our office today to schedule an appointment with our skilled dermatologists for an evaluation. We offer dermatology care at our locations in Eden Prairie, Blaine, Fridley, Coon Rapids, Maple Grove, and Minneapolis, Minnesota.
We also do clinical studies at our office in New Brighton.
