Frederic E. Mohs

Who was Frederic E. Mohs?

Frederic Edward Mohs, a physician and general surgeon, developed the Mohs micrographic surgery technique in 1938 to remove skin cancer lesions while still a medical student at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. The Mohs procedure is considered the best method for treating certain types of skin cancer, especially of the head and neck, with cure rates approaching 100%.

Mohs was born in Burlington, Wisconsin. His father died when he was 3 months old, and the family moved to Madison, where his mother ran a boarding house. After initially considering a career as a radio engineer, he switched to medical studies in college. Mohs began developing his treatment in the 1930s, experimenting on rats, puppies, and other animals. The breakthrough came when he discovered that applying a combination zinc chloride and bloodroot paste to malignant rat skin tissue allowed it to be removed surgically and examined under a microscope. He treated his first human patient on June 23, 1936. Mohs, who spent his working life at the University of Wisconsin, was a tireless advocate for the surgical procedure he had devised and taught it to doctors from all over the world.