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Dermatologic Surgery

A changing mole or a new patch of red, itchy or crusty skin can be a sign of skin cancer. Rather than taking a wait-and-see approach with your changing skin, we encourage you to meet with our care team. Many skin conditions can be treated with dermatologic surgery when caught early on.

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Skin cancer is the most common cancer

Did you know that skin cancer is the most common type of cancer? That's why routinely monitoring your skin for any signs of changing moles or skin patches is a great habit. The quicker we can evaluate you, the sooner you can return to living in your healthy skin. In fact, there's a 99% cure rate for skin cancers caught early on.

And if you need dermatologic surgery, you can trust that our dermatologists will work to remove the cancer with minimal scarring.

Patient's face is being examined for skin cancer in the dermatology clinic at Tufts Medical Center by Clarissa Yang, MD.
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Conditions

We use the latest diagnostic imaging and other tests to help stage and plan the treatment of:

Atypical fibroxanthoma
Atypical moles
Basal cell carcinoma
Dermatofibrosarcoma protuberans
Malignant melanoma
Merkel cell carcinoma
Paget's disease of breast
Squamous cell carcinoma
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Treatments

Our expert dermatologists work in close collaboration with our pathology, ophthalmology, otolaryngology and medical and radiation oncology teams to create your personal wellness plan. You can turn to our doctors for a range of minimally invasive dermatologic surgeries, including:

  • Cryosurgery
  • Electrosurgery
  • Excisions
  • Mohs surgery
  • Photodynamic therapy

Mohs surgery

Mohs surgery is a smart option for skin cancer that's in a visible or hard-to-treat area, like the face or hands. The good news is that Mohs surgery has a 99% cure rate for people who have basal or squamous cell skin carcinoma.

Additionally, it has a 95% cure for people who have tumors that didn't respond to more traditional skin cancer treatments.

Clinical care with cosmetic considerations

Skin cancer treatment can often lead to puzzling feelings. While your priority is having the cancer removed, you may still worry about permanent scarring. With our team at Tufts Medicine, you don’t have to choose. 

Using only local anesthesia, we perform dermatologic surgeries that quickly and efficiently remove skin cancer. Once we remove the cancer, we perform reconstructive surgery to minimize scarring.

You can feel confident that you will leave our offices the same day with skin that not only feels healthy, but looks healthy, too.

Natalia Plotnikova, MD, examines a patient's skin around the nose in the dermatology clinic at Tufts Medical Center.
Our locations

From regular office visits to inpatient stays, find the healthcare you need and deserve close to home.

Bichchau Michelle Nguyen, MD (Director of MOHS) with Leslie Cruz, Practice Manager and Clarissa Yang, MD (Chief of Dermatology) talking in the hallway in the Dermatology clinic at Tufts Medical Center.
Our doctors + care team

Meet the doctors and care team devoted to supporting you every step of the way along your path to better health.

Understand what you may pay for care at Tufts Medicine with our price estimate tool.

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