When you’re dealing with skin cancers like basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma, or melanoma, the best treatment is often excision of lesions because it removes all of the cancer cells. The Mohs surgery specialist at Palm Beach Dermatology Group in Delray Beach, Florida, removes cancerous tissue in increments to remove the cancer while preserving all the healthy tissue nearby. Use the online booking tool or call the office for your appointment now.
Excision of lesions means the surgical removal of skin cancer. Surgery includes removal of the cancerous lesion itself, along with some of the tissue around it. The exact amount of the surrounding tissue, known as the margin, that your dermatologist removes depends on what kind of cancer it is and whether your cancer has spread.
The dermatologists at Palm Beach Dermatology Group do lesion excision on a case-by-case basis. For some cancers, particularly precancerous growths, basal cell carcinomas, and some squamous cell carcinomas, you may not need excision. Your dermatologist may recommend a laser removal procedure to remove the skin cancer instead.
Usually, with more serious cases of basal cell carcinoma or squamous cell carcinoma, and with melanoma, your dermatologist recommends lesion excision for your safety. Lesion excision is the most reliable way to remove all of the cancerous cells from your body.
There are two main types of lesion excision: standard excision, in which your dermatologist removes the entire lesion and margin, and Mohs surgery.
Mohs surgery is an alternative to traditional lesion excision. Only highly trained Mohs surgeons can perform this type of surgery, and Palm Beach Dermatology Group is proud to have Mohs surgeons on staff. In this procedure, a highly trained Mohs surgeon removes cancerous tissue in increments.
After your surgeon removes the cancerous lesion and margin, they immediately study the tissue sample in great detail. Your surgeon creates a map of your lesion and surrounding skin to indicate where cancerous cells remain.
If the margins aren’t clear (there are still cancerous cells in your surrounding tissue), your surgeon then removes another layer of skin from the area where they mapped the cancer cells. Your surgeon then examines this new layer of tissue for cancer cells. This incremental tissue removal continues until your surgeon has removed all the cancer cells.
Mohs surgery can be an excellent alternative to traditional lesion excision because it removes only the necessary tissue. Sometimes, your surgeon may perform Mohs surgery after a traditional melanoma lesion excision.
Excision of lesions is safe, effective, and very reliable today. Your Palm Beach Dermatology Group team is ready to help, so book your appointment by phone or through the online tool today.
