Invasive melanoma and melanoma in situ treated with modified mohs micrographic surgery with en face permanent sectioning: A 10-year retrospective review

BACKGROUND Successful surgical treatment of cutaneous melanoma is dependent on margin control.OBJECTIVE To determine efficacy of modified Mohs micrographic surgery (mMMS) with en face permanent margins in management of invasive melanoma (IM) and melanoma in situ (MIS). METHODS A retrospective cohort study evaluating local recurrence, 5-year recurrence-free survival, and 5-year melanoma-specific survival. Overall, 657 melanomas (128 IM and 529 MIS) from 631 patients were treated using mMMS during a 10-year period. Follow-up information was obtained from medical records and telephone encounters.RESULTSThe median follow-up time was 5.18 years. Most melanomas were located on the head and neck 93.6% (615/657). Margins required for clearance were 0.77 ± 0.44 cm (mean ± SD). Local recurrence was identified in 1.98% (13/657) of melanomas with no local recurrences in IM. Five-year local recurrence-free and melanoma-specific survival rates were estimated to be 96.9% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 94.6%-98.2%) and 99.0% (95% CI: 97.7%-99.6%). There were 5 melanoma-related deaths. CONCLUSION Modified Mohs micrographic surgery is an effective treatment of melanoma as evidenced by low local recurrence rates and high melanoma-specific survival.