title: Surgical margins in the treatment of nonmelanoma skin cancer and mohs micrographic surgery.
abstract: Traditional surgical treatment of nonmelanoma skin cancer includes excision with subsequent evaluation of surgical margins, either via frozen sections intraoperatively or after excision and closure. Accurate communication between surgeon and pathologist regarding the meaning of surgical margins should be confirmed. Recurrences of tumor growth may in part be attributed to asymmetrical tumor growth patterns with extension of tumor in an unanticipated direction. Mohs micrographic surgery is an outpatient procedure that maximizes surgical margin evaluation while minimizing the amount of tissue that must be excised. This article will discuss the concept of surgical margins in excisions of nonmelanoma skin cancer and the role of Mohs micrographic surgery.
authors.affiliation: Division of Dermatology, Department of Internal Medicine, Mercer University School of Medicine, Medical Center of Central Georgia, 777 Hemlock Street, Macon, GA 31201, USA. joshua.lane@lycos.com
authors.forename: Joshua E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Lane
authors.forename: David E
authors.initials: DE
authors.lastname: Kent
mesh_terms: D002280:Basal Cell Carcinoma / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D002294:Carcinoma, Squamous Cell / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D015580:Mohs Surgery / Q000379:methods*; D018570:Risk Assessment; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012878:Skin Neoplasms / Q000473:pathology / Q000601:surgery*; D016896:Treatment Outcome