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October 10, 2006 Innovative Mohs Clinic open at Saint John Regional Hospital Atlantic Health Sciences Corporation is pleased to announce that Dr. Robert Hayes has opened the new Mohs Micrographic Surgery Clinic at the Saint John Regional Hospital. Dr. Hayes is a native of Saint John and is one of only 14 practising dermatologists in Canada to have completed a specialized Fellowship in Mohs Micrographic Surgery. Mohs Micrographic Surgery was named after Dr. Frederick Mohs, an American surgeon who pioneered the technique from the 1930s to the 1970s. The advanced treatment uses the accuracy of a microscope to trace and ensure removal of tumours down to their roots. It is most often used to treat the two most common forms of skin cancer; basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, but can be used to treat a variety of other skin cancers. An exception to this is melanoma, for which a wide local excision remains the standard of care. Mohs Micrographic surgery offers the highest cure rate for basal cell and squamous cell carcinoma – up to 99% for untreated tumours and 96% for tumours that recur after other forms of treatment have failed. Mohs surgeons are highly trained in both dermatology and tumour pathology and therefore the clinic has its own frozen section Pathology Lab, allowing extracted skin to be examined for additional cancer while the patient waits. Another interesting part of the Fellowship in Mohs Surgery is extensive training in facial reconstruction. This will allow Dr. Hayes to perform reconstructive surgery on patients as necessary. Dermatologists are in high demand in Canada with only about 12 physicians completing their specialist examinations each year. Atlantic Health Sciences Corporation is fortunate that Dr. Hayes has chosen to return to this Region. Patients from all over New Brunswick and Atlantic Canada will now have access to this specialized treatment procedure. Until now, the closest Mohs-certified Dermatologist was in Quebec City. Dr. Hayes grew up in Blacks Harbour and Saint John, and completed some of his medical training in the city. He finished medical school at Dalhousie University in 2000 and a Dermatology residency at the University of Toronto in 2005. He completed his Mohs Micrographic Surgery fellowship at the University of British Columbia in Vancouver. He says that he made a commitment to come back to Saint John when he was a resident here and indicates that “the medical community in Saint John is very supportive. I have been working closely with the local group of plastic surgeons and Department of Laboratory Medicine to get this clinic underway.” Each year, approximately 860 New Brunswickers are diagnosed with their first basal cell carcinoma and approximately 300 are diagnosed with their first squamous cell carcinoma. Unlike other types of cancer, it is quite common for people to develop more than one skin cancer in their lifetime. The lifetime chance of a New Brunswicker developing a basal or squamous cell carcinoma is approximately 13%. “The rates of skin cancer in New Brunswick are as high as in other parts of Canada, including British Columbia,” says Dr. Hayes. The Mohs clinic at the Saint John Regional Hospital has been open since early September and operates on an outpatient basis, with patients spending approximately 4 to 6 hours at the clinic for treatment. Procedures are performed under local anesthetic utilizing conventional surgical instruments. Dr. Hayes sees patients at the clinic two days per week and the remainder of his week is spent at his practice in Saint John. The surgery is performed mostly on patients who have difficult, recurrent cancers, or whose cancer is in an area where it is important to preserve healthy tissue for both functional and cosmetic reasons, such as the eyelids, nose, ears, and lips. Dr. Hayes describes this procedure as the “gold standard of treatment for skin cancer” and says he is “excited to be able to return to Saint John and offer this service to patients in the area.” Working with Dr. Hayes at the Mohs clinic is Lynne McLaughlin, Mohs Surgical Nurse and Jane Agar, Mohs Histotechnologist, both of whom have been with AHSC for several years.
Contact: Copyright © 2006 Atlantic Health Sciences Corporation. All rights reserved. |
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