A retrospective study of outcome of Mohs’ micrographic surgery for cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma using formalin fixed sections

✍ Scribed by R.J. Turner; N. Leonard; A.J. Malcolm; C.M. Lawrence; M.G.C. Dahl

• Book ID: 104459424
• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 2000
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 339 KB
• Volume: 142
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0007-0963
• DOI: 10.1046/j.1365-2133.2000.03422.x

✦ Synopsis

The surgical management of recurrent or large squamous cell carcinoma (SCC) can be challenging as tumours often extend beyond visible margins. Micrographic surgery is a potentially effective method of ensuring complete clearance of tumour. A retrospective study of all cases of SCC treated by micrographic surgery in this department between 1986 and 1996 has been done. Sixty-one patients were treated using a formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded tissue technique with a median follow-up of 4 years. In two cases there was local recurrence and in three others metastasis to local lymph nodes. The overall cure rate was 92% (56 of 61), which compares favourably with published series using chemosurgery and frozen tissue techniques. The results show that this technique of micrographic surgery is a satisfactory and cost-effective alternative to conventional frozen section techniques in the treatment of SCC. The formalin-fixed tissue method has the advantage of providing high-quality permanent histological sections using existing conventional pathology services.