Mohs surgery for squamous cell carcinoma of the nail: report of 15 cases. Our experience and a long-term follow-up.

BACKGROUND

Subungual squamous cell carcinoma (SSCC) is the most common malignancy of the nail unit. Mohs micrographic surgery (MMS) is a microscopically controlled surgical technique that has a high cure rate for skin cancers despite allowing narrow surgical margins.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the long-term effectiveness of MMS in the treatment of SSCC, and in particular its ability to reduce the number of digital amputations.

METHODS

Fifteen patients diagnosed with SSCC were treated with MMS as the first-line surgical approach, and were followed up for between 2 and 5 years.

RESULTS

SSCC was completely excised in 13 patients, while two patients required amputation of the distal phalanx. For tumours with predominantly exophytic growth, clinical and radiological findings were found not to be reliable indicators of bone invasion. No recurrences were detected on follow-up.

CONCLUSION

Our results show that MMS provides a high cure rate for SSCC and reduces the number of amputations needed. MMS should become the first-line surgical approach for SSCC.