CUTANEOUS MALIGNANT-MELANOMA TREATED BY MOHS SURGERY - REVIEW OF THE TREATMENT RESULTS OF 179 CASES FROM THE MOHS MELANOMA REGISTRY

BACKGROUND. There has been much debate regarding the Efficacy of the M ohs chemosurgery fixed-tissue technique vs the fresh-tissue technique in the treatment of cutaneous melanoma. OBJECTIVE. To review the treat ment results of the 179 cases of melanoma registered with the Mohs mel anoma tumor registry from 1981 to 1991, accumulated from nine referrin g Mohs surgeons. METHODS. Review of the two treatment techniques using a case presentation format. There were 113 cases treated by the hybri d fixed-tissue technique and 61 cases treated by the fresh-tissue tech nique. The data compared technique of treatment vs degree of invasion by both Clark level and Breslow thickness determinations. Analysis of the data using Kaplan-Meier graph. RESULTS. Five-year survival data fo r melanomas treated by either the fresh-tissue or fixed-tissue method appear concordant. CONCLUSION. For thin and intermediate melanoma thic knesses treatment by either method appears to be equally efficacious. For deep melanomas, the number of cases were insufficient to evaluate. Further study of this high-risk category is warranted. (C) 1997 by th e American Society for Dermatologic Surgery, Inc.