Mohs

What is Mohs?

Mohs is a surgical method named after Dr. Frederick Mohs who developed the procedure in 1936. The procedure starts with numbing the skin around the affected site and removing the part of the tumor that is visible. That skin is then frozen, divided into sections and graphed to the site of the surgery. This allows the physician to examine the edges under a microscope and see where cancer remains. The surgeon then removes thin layers of skin, following the same micrographic process, until no cancer is found.

What are the benefits of Mohs surgery?

While skin cancer is visible on the surface of the skin, its roots can reach deep into lower layers of skin. The Mohs procedure examines 100 percent of the edges of the tumor under a microscope to determine where it reaches deeper into the body. This elevates the success rate of the surgery.

Removing thin layers of skin means that only the necessary skin is being removed, leading to smaller scars and improved healing times. In traditional surgery, more skin needs to be removed to allow for the chance that the cancer has spread beyond what is visible.

Mohs is also an outpatient procedure generally performed with only local anesthesia, which means patients can be back on their feet quickly.

What is the success rate for Mohs?

Mohs surgery has been shown to provide a success rate of up to 99%.

Who can perform Mohs?

Fellowship-trained Mohs surgeons are able to both do the surgery and map the removed skin to the surgical site. They act as both surgeon and pathologist to provide the most successful and quickest results.