Mohs surgery for superficial basal cell carcinoma?

Question

I recently found out I have a superficial basal cell carcinoma on my scalp about 1 inch back from my hairline. It is about 8 mm wide. I am scheduled for Mohs surgery in 2 1/2 weeks and very stressed about it. I am reading that the superficial type has a propensity to spread beyond the visible tumor under the skin. But I don't know, statistically, what that means. Is it highly likely that I will have a much bigger area removed than 8 mm? Or is it 50% chance, 30% chance, or what? TIA

Joel L. Cohen, MD · Answer

Superficial BCC commonly has very ill-defined edges, and larger sites can quite often have a deeper component (nodular) or extend down hair follicular structures. So for an ill-defined tumor in the scalp that appears to be at least 8mm in size, I agree with the recommendation of Mohs rather than other options like excision (would take a wider margin, and also not be able to look at complete a margin as Mohs surgery, and not have as high a cure rate as Mohs ... Or options like ED&C (burning and scraping the tumor, which could miss a deeper component below the surface, and also not have as high a cure rate as Mohs surgery. In short, Mohs is a higher cure rate, a smaller margin and a more complete analysis of the margins.

Mohs surgery for superficial basal cell carcinoma?

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