The Warrior: Winning the fight against skin cancer

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Armed with the latest Mohs surgical technology, Dr. Jorge Garcia-Zuazaga, of Apex Dermatology, has taken up the fight against skin cancer—and he’s winning. Here’s how he can help you.

By Olivia Bloom

“You’ve got skin cancer.”

These life-altering words are ones no one wants to hear, but with surgeons like Dr. Jorge Garcia-Zuazaga, of Apex Dermatology, patients in Northeast Ohio have a warrior ready to arm them with a 98 percent or higher cure rate.

Dr. Garcia is one of the few doctors in the state trained to detect and remove skin cancer using Mohs surgery, which offers the highest cure rate in the industry.

“This isn’t just what I do for a living; it’s my passion,” Dr. Garcia says. “My life is focused on helping people come out of difficult situations with confidence and a smile.”

Dr. Garcia did his fellowship at Harvard Medical School and served as director of Mohs surgery at University Hospitals’ Westlake Health Center before opening his own practices.

To date he has performed more than 20,000 Mohs surgeries and has become a nationally recognized doctor featured in a variety of medical journals.

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The American Red Cross named Dr. Garcia a Red Cross Hero for the work he has done in detecting and treating cancer. They specifically applauded his SPOTcheck Program, which guarantees patients will be seen within 24 hours if they find a suspicious spot that is new, crusty, scaling, painful, or bleeding. Dr. Garcia is also the proud recipient of the Castle Connolly Top Doc award for the fifth year in a row.

During the Mohs procedure, Dr. Garcia tracks his work microscopically to ensure all cancerous tissues are removed. This also allows him to remove only what is necessary to ensure restored health, which leads to better results. Less than one percent of patients who undergo Mohs have a reappearance of cancer at the same site, so when it’s gone, it’s almost always gone for good.

“Mohs is considered the gold standard for treatment of skin cancer of the face, neck, and large areas of the body,” Dr. Garcia says.

He explains Mohs is used for nonmelanoma skin cancers such as basal cell carcinoma and squamous cell carcinoma, in addition to being used for rare tumors like lentigo maligna—a condition that most commonly occurs in people with sun-damaged skin.

“In our offices, we perform Mohs as an outpatient procedure, under local anesthesia. There are no facility fees or big operating room charges, and parking is free. Patients are seen on time and without long waits to treat their skin cancer once they are diagnosed. We are all about offering the best treatments available with accessibility and without the extra fees,” Dr. Garcia says.

Typically, patients do not experience much pain or discomfort after surgery, so most people can avoid missed work and return to their normal activities the next day. Mohs is covered by most insurance plans, and Dr. Garcia is an in-network provider for all major carriers.

“We’ve become a preferred skin cancer treatment center in Northeast Ohio because we are efficient and dedicated to our patients. We lead people to successful outcomes through education, prevention, early detection, and state-of-the-art technologies,” says Dr. Garcia.

“I am excited to have seven locations in the Greater Cleveland area where there is much need for skin cancer services.”

Apex Dermatology has seven locations to serve the Greater Cleveland/Akron areas including the newest and largest facility in Westlake at 4350 Crocker Road, Suite #300 (at the corner of Crocker Road and Center Ridge Road). Evening and Saturday appointments are available at this location. Other Apex offices are located in Medina, Parma, Hudson, Solon, Mayfield Heights and Concord. To schedule an appointment, call 833-279-7546. For more information, visit ApexSkin.com.

Categories: Health & Wellness