For many skin cancers on the body or limbs, Dr. Mahoney and Dr. Yeung will personally excise (remove) the cancer along with a safety margin of healthy tissue, and seamlessly reconstruct the area in a single visit. For complex or high-risk cancers on the face, nose, or ears, you may be referred to a Mohs Dermatologist, who removes the cancer layer by layer until you are 100% cancer-free and then reconstructs thereafter.

If a large amount of tissue must be removed to clear the cancer, we cannot simply pull the wound edges together. We must reconstruct the area using either a local flap or skin graft. A local flap uses adjacent, healthy skin and slides or rotates it over the defect, whereas a skin graft involves taking a thin patch of skin from a hidden donor site (like behind the ear or the collarbone) and use it to "patch" the defect.

Almost never. Skin cancer excision and reconstruction are safely, comfortably, and routinely performed under local anesthesia. We will carefully numb the area so you feel absolutely no pain—only slight pressure. You will be awake and relaxed, meaning you avoid the grogginess of general anesthesia and can go home immediately after the procedure.

If we perform a standard excision, the tissue is sent to a specialized laboratory to be examined under a microscope. It typically takes 3-4 weeks for the final pathology report to confirm that the "margins are clear" (meaning 100% of the cancer was successfully removed).

If the initial pathology report shows that microscopic cancer cells reach the very edge of the removed tissue (a "positive margin"), we will simply remove a little bit more tissue to ensure your absolute safety. Once clear margins are achieved, true recurrences in the exact same surgical spot are quite rare, though you will need regular, lifelong skin checks with your dermatologist to monitor for new spots.