When patients in the Walnut Creek area get news that they have skin cancer, they may be devastated. However, skin cancer is one of the most commonly diagnosed types of cancer and the easiest to address. Skin cancer is visible, so early detection is possible when patients pay close attention to changes or developments on their skin that may be concerning. Dr. Christine Lee of The Skin and Laser Treatment Institute encourages patients to visit their dermatologist when they have unusual or changing lesions, wounds, moles, warts, or other concerns. This can help fast-track patients through the diagnosis and treatment process and catch the cancer early enough to intervene.
Dr. Christine Lee uses Mohs micrographic surgery as an advanced treatment for skin cancer when patients are struggling with lesions on visible areas of the body or face. When patients have cancerous skin cells on their nose, cheek, ear, or any other highly noticeable area, they may want to consider Mohs micrographic surgery. This type of excision helps in minimizing the amount of healthy, normal tissue that is removed to reduce scarring. This treatment has the highest cure rate, ensuring cancerous skin cells are removed no matter how deep in the skin they develop.
Mohs micrographic surgery uses a special technique that was developed by a surgeon, Dr. Frederic Mohs, back in the 1950s. This method has continued to advance to give surgeons the ability to remove as much cancerous tissue as possible to cure the cancer and avoid reoccurrence. Sometimes skin cancer appears to be on just the surface of the skin, but many times these cancers have “roots.” Cancerous skin may be extremely deep, and this method of excision ensures that the cancer is addressed. This procedure takes sections of the skin layer by layer until the cancerous tissue is no longer detected on microscopic slides. Patients will often experience much less scaring with Mohs micrographic surgery than with other methods of excision.