What is Mohs micrographic surgery for skin cancer

Mohs micrographic surgery for skin cancer is named after its founder, American doctor Mohs. The original treatment method of this surgery was to fix the skin tumor with zinc chloride paste, then cut it off horizontally and send the cut skin cancer lesion to pathological examination; if there is any residue at the base, it will be fixed again and cut off and sent to pathological examination until there is no cancer at the base. However, the zinc chloride fixation step has been omitted in the current surgery.

The cure rate of skin cancer treated with Mohs micrographic surgery is over 96%. Compared with other treatment methods, its advantage is that it can achieve a high cure rate regardless of the size, location, and histological type of the tumor, and the recurrence rate is very low. This surgery can achieve the highest cure rate for all types of skin cancer, and is especially suitable for the treatment of high-risk skin cancer.

Currently, this procedure is mainly suitable for high-risk skin cancer patients who are prone to recurrence after treatment, mainly including:

① Patients with recurrent skin cancer.

② Skin cancer with an invasive histological type, such as poorly differentiated, neurotropic, and deeply invasive skin cancer.

③Lesions with unclear margins or a diameter greater than 2.5 cm.

④ Skin cancer located in areas prone to recurrence, such as lesions in the middle of the face and hard plaque type.

However, Mohs micrographic surgery requires systematic professional training and a good understanding of the clinical pathological characteristics of skin diseases in order to examine the surgical margins and distinguish tumor tissue from normal tissue under a microscope during surgery. In addition, Mohs micrographic surgery is time-consuming and labor-intensive in the treatment of squamous cell carcinoma of the skin, and the procedure involves a wide range of resection, is difficult, and causes great tissue damage, so it is rarely used in China.