CHEMOSURGICAL TREATMENT OF CANCER OF THE SKIN

Abstract

The term "chemosurgery" was coined to designate a newly developed method for the treatment of cancer. The most important feature of the method is the technic by which thorough microscopic control of excision may be attained. This microscopic control makes possible, in effect, the selective destruction of cancer with the resultant dual advantages of unprecedented reliability and conservatism. The use of the method is limited to accessible regions of the body because the procedure is carried out in stages. The development of the method, both in the laboratory¹and in the clinic,²has been described as has been the application of the method in the treatment of cancer of the lip,³nose,⁴ear,⁵eyelid,⁶face,⁷extremities and trunk.⁸The present article concerns the chemosurgical treatment of cancer of the skin except for the orificial cancers affecting the lips, vulva, penis and anus.