Skin Cancer Program

Part of the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center

If you are faced with suspected or diagnosed skin cancer, you want expert care and treatment by a highly experienced team in a state-of-the-art facility.

The Skin Cancer Program, part of the UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, can provide this care. For people who are at risk of skin cancer, or who have been diagnosed with it, the program provides a comprehensive, multidisciplinary approach and services at all stages of skin cancer, including:

• Screening
• Diagnosis
• Management and follow-up
• Patient education
• Treatment options, including Mohs micrographic surgery

Services are provided through any one of four clinical sites throughout the Pittsburgh area. By coordinating preventive, diagnostic, and treatment services through a single network, the Skin Cancer Program facilitates easy, one-step access to advanced technologies and effective coordination of follow-up care.

Diagnosis and Treatment

For all types of skin cancers, our specialists are highly experienced in the areas of:

• Dermatology
• Dermatopathology
• Medical oncology
• Surgery
• Telemedicine
• Epidemiology

We will work with you during your diagnosis and treatment. We offer a wide range of treatment options, ranging from medicines to surgical options.

Mohs Micrographic Surgery

The Mohs micrographic surgery procedure is a highly advanced technique for treating skin cancer that involves ping diseased tissue in a very precise manner, facilitating complete removal of the skin cancer with minimal disruption to surrounding healthy skin.

Mohs micrographic surgery is performed on an outpatient basis, and people can go home the same day. Of all treatments, the procedure offers the highest potential cure rate — 99 percent — for skin cancer.

The types of cancer that are most appropriate for Mohs surgery are:

• Large, aggressive, or growing quickly
• Located in cosmetically sensitive areas
• Recurrent
• Those with ill-defined edges

At UPMC, we offer Mohs micrographic surgery, which offers a cure rate of up to 99% for many non-melanoma skin cancer cases. Our surgeons specialize in the challenging tumors that are located in the region of the head and neck. To help ensure that our surgeons provide optimal care, Kristin Bibee, MD, PhD, Bryan T. Carroll, MD, PhD, and Melissa A. Pugliano-Mauro, MD, have completed an American College of Mohs Surgery approved and ACGME-accredited fellowship in procedural dermatology/Mohs surgery. The standards for this fellowship are rigorous with an extensive, defined curriculum and experience requirements that include Micrographic Surgery, reconstructive techniques and other cutaneous procedures.

We are a fellowship program of the ACMS and a benchmark of excellence in Mohs surgery training. Dr. Pugliano-Mauro is the director of this one-year program that ensures that graduates have additional expertise and exposure to challenging tumors and wound reconstruction.

The fellowship includes:

• Involvement in more than 500 Mohs surgery cases
• Development of expertise by interpreting tissue samples removed during the procedure
• Executing a variety of reconstructions, both common and complex

As faculty of an ACMS/ ACGME-accredited fellowship program, Dr. Bibee, Dr. Carroll and Dr. Pugliano-Mauro are equipped with added proficiencies and insight when working with any Mohs case. Mohs surgery is currently offered at our state-of-the-art surgical suites at UPMC Presbyterian and UPMC St Margaret.

Our Experts

• Kristin Bibee, MD, PhD
• Bryan T. Carroll, MD, PhD
• Diwakar Davar, MD
• Laura K. Ferris, MD, PhD
• Jonhan Ho, MD
• Arivarasan Karunamurthy, MD
• John Kirkwood, MD
• Melissa A. Pugliano-Mauro, MD
• Yana Najjar, MD
• Dan Zandberg, MD
• Hassane Zarour, MD

Locations

UPMC Hillman Cancer Center Skin Cancer Program

• Falk Medical Building
  3601 Fifth Ave., 6th Floor
  Pittsburgh, PA 15213
  Directions to Falk Valet Parking
• UPMC St. Margaret
  2585 Freeport Road
  One Alexander Center
  Suite 204
  Pittsburgh, PA 15238
  Get Directions
• Hillman Cancer Center
  Cutaneous Oncology Center
  5115 Centre Ave.
  Pittsburgh, PA 15232
  Get Directions
• Shadyside Place
  580 S. Aiken Ave., Suites 200 and 201
  Pittsburgh, PA 15232
  Get Directions