Which is more effective: basal cell carcinoma excision or mohs surgery?

Touchy question: Depends on who you ask: dermatologists favor mohs' and plastic surgeons favor excision. The cure rate is highest with mohs', but (in my opinion) it is best reserved for bcca's in critical anatomic areas (like the corner of the eye.) many bcca's can be simply excised in the office with local anesthesia and an unobtrusive scar; the same tumor treated with mohs may take a number of hours.

Mohs surgery: Mohs is the gold standard for removal of skin cancers (highest cure rate of 99%). It is important that you verify that your mohs surgeon is recognized as a fellowship-trained surgeon. Only members of the american college of mohs surgery (acms) are fellowship trained to perform mohs surgery. The link to the acms website: http://www.Mohscollege.Org/.

Depends: Almost any skin cancer can be treated by mohs, but not all skin cancers need mohs. In many cases, its like taking a gun to a knife fight, except in this case it can add a lot of unnecessary time and cost.

Margins control: Mohs micrographic surgery is the gold standard for the treatment of squamous cell and basal cell carcinoma. This is because of how the tissue is processed so that nearly 100% of the margin is sampled. The process continues until clear margins are obtained during the procedure and only then is they wound repaired. It offers the smallest scar with the highest "cure rate.".