Specialized skin cancer surgery available again

Published Aug. 24, 2011
By Steve Pivnick
81st Medical Group Public Affairs

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- The Keesler Hospital again offers Mohs surgery, a specialized technique for removing various types of skin cancer.

Maj. (Dr.) Oliver Wisco arrived in July to restart the treatment that hadn't been available here for a year.

Wisco, a member of the Air Force for 10 years, earned a bachelor of science in biochemistry from the University of Portland in 1997 as an ROTC member.

He received a doctor of osteopathy degree from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine in 2002. He completed his internship in family practice at David Grant Medical Center, Travis Air Force Base, Calif., in 2003 and then served as a flight surgeon to U-2 reconnaissance aircraft pilots at Beale AFB, Calif., from 2003-2005.

In 2005, Wisco began a three-year residency in dermatology at Wilford Hall Medical Center, Lackland AFB, Texas, where he served as an attending physician until he entered a one-year fellowship in Mohs surgery. The program was a joint skin cancer-surgical and melanoma fellowship conducted by Boston's Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School and Mystic Valley Dermatology.

Wisco said Mohs surgery "involves removal of skin cancer with the least amount of tissue in a specialized way, after which the tissue is frozen and placed on a slide. I look at the tissue to see if there is any cancer left. If there is, I take the cancer based on the way it's growing to leave the least amount of residual damage. Once the cancer is completely removed, I repair the tissue using techniques from simple closure to complex flaps."

He added, "The majority of the surgery is done on the face and ears."

In addition to Wisco's Mohs surgery clinic, he also directs a skin cancer clinic every Wednesday.

"Focus is placed on patients with a high risk for skin cancer, but all patients requesting a full body-skin exam to look for skin cancer can be seen in this clinic by a referral from their primary care manager," he said.

Wisco's patients are referred by other clinics, but all military health system beneficiaries are eligible to be seen. Patients with TRICARE benefits diagnosed with cancer by civilian physicians also may be treated.