What Is Mohs Surgery Used For?
The majority of tumors treated with Mohs surgery are complex basal cell carcinomas and squamous cell carcinomas. Other uses include more rare skin cancers, as well as thin melanomas. Skin cancers may be considered complex when:
- the cancer is in an area where preservation of healthy tissue is critical to minimize scarring and maximize function and cosmesis
- the cancer is in an area of higher tumor recurrence (ears, lips, nose, eyelids, temples)
- the cancer is in a previously treated area and is recurrent
- the cancer is very large
- the margins of the cancer are not well defined
- the patient is immunosuppressed (e.g. organ transplantation, HIV infection, chronic lymphocytic leukemia)