[A histological technique for processing excised skin tumors for continuous tumor margin control]

In the treatment of basal cell carcinoma, squamous cell carcinoma and a number of other tumors of the skin, the recurrence rate is tenfold lower if they are treated with micrographic surgery in comparison with tumors, assessed by parallel histological sections. We demonstrated this in our investigations including over 5900 cases. The rate of local recurrences in under 1%. The difference can be explained by the typical growth pattern of skin tumors. In the following article two simple methods of tissue processing are described, which can be used for formalin-fixed tissues and for fresh tissues.