Vitaly Terushkin, MD

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New York, NY
Vitaly Terushkin, MD

Dr. Vitaly Terushkin is a fellowship-trained Mohs surgeon and triple board-certified in Dermatology, Dermatopathology, and Micrographic Dermatologic Surgery.

Fellowship-trained in Mohs & Reconstructive Surgery
Triple Board-certified in Dermatology, Dermatopathology, and Micrographic Dermatologic Surgery
Dermatology Clinical Instructor He is one of a few Mohs surgeons in the United States to have completed a fellowship in dermatopathology. Dr. Terushkin is the first Mohs surgeon in New York City to have treated melanoma with Mohs surgery

and MART-1 immunohistochemical staining. He currently practices Mohs surgery for melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancer in New York and New Jersey. He also teaches dermatology residents at Weill Cornell Medical College. Since entering practice, Dr. Terushkin has performed over 12,000 Mohs surgeries. This includes over 900 melanomas treated with Mohs surgery and the MART-1 immunostain. Dr. Terushkin graduated summa cm laude from Brandeis University with a degree in Neuroscience and then attended NYU School of Medicine. While in medical school, he spent an extra year conducting research in cutaneous oncology at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He completed his internship in internal medicine at the Mount Sinai Medical Center and his dermatology residency at NYU, where he also served as chief resident. Dr. Terushkin then completed a fellowship in Micrographic surgery and dermatologic oncology under the guidance of Drs. Zitelli and Brodland, recognized leaders in the field. He subsequently returned to NYU to complete a fellowship in dermatopathology. In 2021 and 2022, Dr. Terushkin was selected as a Castle Connolly Top Doctor. He has published over 30 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. He is a member of the American College of Mohs Surgery, American Academy of Dermatology, and Dermatologic Society of Greater New York. He is a peer reviewer for several professional medical journals. He is fluent in Russian and conversational in Spanish.

07/07/2026

This patient underwent Mohs surgery for a basal cell carcinoma on the left ala. The tumor cleared after 2 stages and the defect was repaired with a bilobed flap.

At 7 months after follow, the wound has healed well, there is good symmetry, and the patient can breath well throgh his nose.

The Zitelli bilobed flap is both versatile and reproducible, making it one of the work-horses for reconstruction in my practice.

06/30/2026

Mohs surgery frozen section of the week - Squamous cell carcinoma with perineural invasion stained with H&E and AE1/AE3.

The use of immunohistochemistry has not only revolutionized the way Mohs surgeons treat melanoma (with the use of the MART-1 antibody) but is particularly helpful when treating aggressive keratinocytic neoplasms like squamous cell carcinoma and basal cell carcinoma. Squamous cell carcinoma with perineural invasion and single cell spread has a high recurrence rate partially due to the difficulty in seeing the tumor cells with standard H&E. The use of the pancytokeratin marker AE1/AE3 makes it much easier to track this tumor, remove it when seen, and improve cure rates.

Our high complexity in-house laboratory is the only Mohs lab in NYC that routinely performs real-time immunostaining during surgery for complex and high-risk cancers.

zitellitrained

05/09/2026

Mohs surgery frozen section of the week - Invasive melanoma (Breslow depth 1.4 mm, T2a) stained with H&E and MART-1.

While Mohs surgery with immunostains is often performed for melanoma in situ and thin invasive melanoma (less than 0.8 mm in tumor thickness), it is possible to treat thick tumors with Mohs in a multidisciplinary setting.

Thick tumors are often evaluated for spread to the lymph node as part of additional staging. This test is called a sentinel lymph node biopsy and is performed by surgical oncologists. Checking the lymph node happens either before or at the same time as the removal of the primary tumor. As the lymph node test is done in the operating room under general anesthesia by surgical oncology, it is not feasible to do Mohs surgery. Therefore, these tumors are often removed with a wide local excision or a staged excision. While providing a higher cure rate, Mohs surgery isn't available in this setting.

However, this case was done in collaboration with Head and Neck Oncology (ENT) at Weill Cornell Medical Center. The ENT surgeon first performed the lymph node test to see if the melanoma had spread and then the patient was sent to our office later in the week for Mohs surgery to remove the primary tumor. This collaboration allowed the patient to take advantage of both the lymph node test in the hospital setting and the high cure rate of Mohs surgery in the office setting.

05/04/2026

Had an opportunity to share our experience with treating melanoma with Mohs surgery at the Atlantic Dermatology Conference this weekend.

05/01/2026

Today marks 20,000 Mohs surgeries completed since finishing fellowship!

When seeing a Mohs surgeon for your skin cancer, make sure to see someone with experience. Also, make sure they have graduated from an ACGME-accredited Mohs surgery fellowship.

04/29/2026

Mohs surgery case of the day - Pleomophic Dermal Sarcoma (PDS)

A PDS is a rare, rapidly growing tumor that usually develops on sundamaged skin. On histopathology, there is a nodule of spindled and epithelioid cells within the dermis, adipose tissue and sometimes even muscle. Some cells may be quite large and exhibit multiple nuclei which can be seen even on low power. There may also be mitotic figures.

These tumors are usually very deep as can be seen in this example. Adjuvant radiation therapy is often used to decrease the chance of local recurrence.

04/20/2026

Thanks so much to this patient for their kind words!

03/14/2026

Thanks so much to this patient for their kind words!

12/17/2025

Six years in a row! Thanks !

11/08/2025

Thanks to our patient for their kind words on reviews!

Address

205 E 69th Street Apt 1C
New York, NY
10021

Telephone

+12127723600

Website

http://www.terushkinmohs.com/

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