Korean J Dermatol.  2022 Jan;60(1):44-52.

Analysis of Skin Cancers Treated with Mohs Micrographic Surgery in Korea: A 10-Year Experience (2010∼2020)

• Shim DH
• Shin BS
• Na CH
• Choi H
• Kim MS

Abstract

Background
Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) is a surgical technique for skin cancer that has the advantage of increasing the cure rate while having a tissue-sparing property.
Objective
To investigate the benefits of MMS and the characteristics of various skin cancers that are increasing in incidence in Korea.
Methods
We retrospectively analyzed 1,013 cases treated with MMS, including slow MMS, from 2010 to 2020. Patient and tumor characteristics, reconstruction, recurrence, metastasis, and operation time were reviewed.
Results
Female (61.4%) outnumbered male (38.6%), and the mean patient age was 72.7 years. The most diagnosed skin cancer was basal cell carcinoma (BCC), followed by squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) and cutaneous melanoma. BCC and SCC showed significant differences in various variables, including age, tumor location and size, and MMS stages for clearance. Although BCC was smaller than SCC, it required more MMS stages for a clear margin (p ＜0.05). The recurrence rate was 2.2% (0.7%, 3.0%, and 7.7% for BCC, SCC, and cutaneous melanoma, respectively). There have been no reported recurrences of extramammary Paget’s disease and dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans. The mean number of MMS stages for a clear margin was 1.41±1.05, and clearance was achieved in the first stage in 72.6% of cases. The mean operation time was 123.7 minutes.
Conclusion
MMS is an efficient surgical method that can lower the recurrence rate in the treatment of various skin cancers, and there were statistically significant differences between BCC and SCC in various parameters.

Keyword

Mohs surgery; Skin neoplasms; Surgical flaps