Mohs Surgery - History

History

Originally, Dr. Mohs used an escharotic agent made of zinc chloride and bloodroot (the root of the plant Sanguinaria canadensis, which contains the alkaloid sanguinarine). The original ingredients were 40.0 gm Stibnite, 10.0 gm Sanguinaria canadensis, and 34.5 ml of saturated zinc chloride solution. This paste is very similar to "Hoxsey's paste" (see Hoxsey Therapy). Harry Hoxsey, a lay cancer specialist was developing a herbal tonic and paste designed to treat internal and external cancers. Hoxsey recommended applying paste to the affected area and within days to weeks, the area would necrose (cell death), separate from surrounding tissue and fall out. Dr. Mohs applied a very similar paste after experimenting with a number of compounds to the wound of his skin cancer patients. They were to leave the paste on the wound overnight, and the following day, the skin cancer and surrounding skin would be anesthetized, and ready to be removed. The specimen was then excised, and the tissue examined under the microscope. If cancer remained, more paste was applied, and the patient would return the following day. Later, local anesthetic and frozen section histopathology applied to fresh tissue allowed the procedure to be performed the same day, with less tissue destruction, and similar cure rate. The term "chemosurgery" remains today, and is used synonymously with Mohs micrographic surgery.