Although they are highly effective, they are not always accurate. Sometimes a patient can be told that she has abnormal cells when they are actually normal a false-positive result , or she can be told her cells are normal when there is abnormality that was not detected a false-negative result.
You can reduce your chance of getting cervical cancer by:. If you have questions about the benefits of a Pap smear or your results, talk with your doctor.
Read More. If you have reached this screen, your current device or browser is unable to access the full Edward-Elmhurst Health Web site. To see the full site, please upgrade your browser to the most recent version of Safari, Chrome, Firefox or Internet Explorer. If you cannot upgrade your browser, you can remain on this site. Back to Healthy Driven Blog Home. So first, you want to make sure that you're in that 98 percent cure rate. So they'll probably ask you to get pap smears more frequently, maybe twice a year for a couple of years.
If they all stay normal then you are back on to your every other, every third year screening. If, for some reason, you're at high risk, meaning you have a high-risk virus or you have a high-risk lifestyle where you might get more viruses, then you probably need to be screened a little more often.
So the treatment is about 98 percent effective at getting rid of the dysplasia that you have, and new, healthy cells will grow in. But as long you've got the virus or are exposed to new viruses, it's possible that you could get these changes come back. So once a woman's been treated for dysplasia, she's very likely to be cured, but she has risk factors for getting it again.
Not that it wasn't cured the first time, but getting it all over again. Think of it as sun exposure on your face. So you're a little bit older, and you've got this little area on your face that the dermatologist wants to burn off.
You can burn off that one, but it's very likely that a year or so from now you'll get another someplace else. So it's not unlike that with cervical cancer as well. Announcer: Have a question about a medical procedure? Want to learn more about a health condition? Check it out at TheScopeRadio. Subscribe to Our e-Newsletter. Find a doctor or location close to you so you can get the health care you need, when you need it.
What Is a Pap Smear? Abnormal Pap Smear Causes So if you go back in, what might happen? Colposcopy: An Examination of the Cervix If there's an abnormality, or what we call dysplasia or cervical intraepithelial neoplasia.
Treatment for Abnormal Cervix Cells If it is dysplasia that is moderate or severe, that isn't cancer yet, but then we can actually treat the cervix. For Patients Find a doctor or location close to you so you can get the health care you need, when you need it.
Subscribe to The Scope Radio. Related Podcasts. You may have a blood stained discharge or light bleeding for a few days. During this time you should avoid sexual intercourse and tampons.
There are a number of different ways that pre cancerous changes or CIN can be treated. The treatment options available are either to remove a small part of the cervix or neck of the womb or to treat by heating the tissue called ablation.
Cervical cone biopsy has been used since the s. The abnormal area is removed using a wire loop through which an electric current is passed. LLETZ is a simple and safe technique which gives excellent results. Treatment can be offered at the first visit and if your clinic offers this service then you will be advised in advance in the documentation about your clinic appointment.
If ablation is chosen for your method of treatment a small biopsy is required at the first visit and when the result of the biopsy is available, you will be offered a further appointment to return and then have your treatment. The reason for choosing one treatment instead of another may depend upon the site or size of any abnormality or the exact microscopic appearance of the pre-cancerous abnormality CIN 1, 2 or 3, cGIN.
All treatment methods are highly effective. If your treatment was carried out with a local anaesthetic, you may notice some period-like cramps as the anaesthetic wears off. If this is the case, try taking 2 x mg paracetamol or 2 x mg Ibuprofen if you have no allergies or previous problems with Aspirin tablets to relieve the pain. This usually settles in 2 weeks but may last for up to weeks.
The discharge should not be heavier than a period and should get progressively lighter. If you are worried that this is not the case, you should have been given the contact number of a person you can call at the clinic. Otherwise you should contact your GP. You should be given an information leaflet informing you what to expect after treatment and advising you of telephone numbers to contact if you have any problems.
You are usually to avoid sexual intercourse for 4 weeks after treatment. You should also avoid using tampons during this time. You may be advised to avoid bathing or swimming for weeks. A hysterectomy is very rarely used as a specific treatment for women with abnormal smears. It may be recommended after 2 or 3 local treatments have failed to remove a pre-cancerous problem, or if for technical reasons further smears cannot be taken from a cervix having had multiple treatments.
Other women suitable for hysterectomy may have other difficulties such as heavy periods and abnormal cells making a hysterectomy a practical common solution. A hysterectomy may be recommended for an early cervical cancer or a glandular abnormality. In all cases detailed discussion with your gynaecologist is required to decide whether you can have the hysterectomy as a vaginal, abdominal or laparoscopic or keyhole procedure and whether you should keep your ovaries or have them removed.
It is important to remember that while hysterectomy usually removes the cervix you will still need to have follow up smear tests as in unusual cases abnormal cells can recur in the vagina. Any treatment involves a balance between getting rid of any abnormal cells on the one hand and minimising any possible harm on the other hand.
Clearly the more of your cervix which has been removed the less supporting tissue is available for future pregnancies. Your colposcopist will recognise the importance of the cervix to support future pregnancies and will tend to remove as little tissue as possible while making sure the treatment is successful. Women having had treatment for abnormal cells by loop excision may have a higher risk of preterm delivery in later pregnancies.
Other treatments such as laser ablation or cold coagulation have not been associated with this adverse finding but these treatments may not be suitable for your problem. A type of treatment called cone biopsy this usually requires admission to hospital and is performed whilst you are asleep with a general anaesthetic or repeated treatments may also result in early delivery. If you have had multiple treatments and are pregnant or considering a pregnancy then you should speak to your GP or obstetrician.
While there currently appears to be no ideal way to judge this risk, there are ways that it can be managed. You should discuss your previous treatment with your obstetrician who sometimes may advise a special scan early in pregnancy to measure the length of your cervix. In most cases this is normal, but if not your doctor may recommend a cervical stitch or cerclage to provide additional support.
This is generally inserted when you are pregnant with a short general anaesthetic and removed whilst you are awake shortly before your baby is due. If you have had treatment to the cervix after having had an abnormal smear, it is important to have a smear check about 6 months later. This is to see that the treatment has been effective. This is usually at your Colposcopy clinic, but sometimes this can be back with your GP or practice nurse. A lot of clinics also invite you for a follow-up colposcopy examination at this stage and will take the smear as well.
From you may in addition have a special test to check that any infection with the human papillomavirus HPV has resolved. If all is normal at this stage you will simply have annual smears for a number of years depending on your specific circumstances before going back on the normal 3 or 5 yearly smears.
If any further abnormalities are detected on your tests you will be invited to have a further colposcopy examination. There is no evidence that the flow during your period is increased or that the regularity of your cycle is altered by treatment. Rarely periods may disappear particularly after a cone biopsy this is the treatment that is usually performed with a general anaesthetic but this is due to a rare complication called cervical stenosis, where the cervix becomes blocked and cramp like period pains, continue because of blood becoming trapped in the uterus or womb.
This can usually be dealt with by a procedure to open the cervix and release the trapped blood. Sometimes a smear result will come back as atypical glandular cells and the following is an explanation of this. Abnormalities can occur in both groups of cells but are much commoner in the outer or squamous cells called dyskaryosis on smear and CIN on a tissue biopsy. In the event of having an abnormality in the glandular cells on a smear test called Atypical Glandular cells on smear , you will be referred either directly by the Laboratory or your smear taker to the Colposcopy clinic.
The colposcopist will perform a colposcopic examination and may or may not perform a biopsy at the time. They may also suggest an ultrasound scan of the pelvis to look at the uterus womb as abnormal glandular cells may originally come from there.
Colposcopy assessment is more difficult with atypical glandular cells as sometimes, the abnormality is hidden deep in the tissue or higher up the cervical canal and can be difficult to diagnose. If they confirm the diagnosis, you will usually be offered a treatment. The treatment can be undertaken as an out-patient procedure, but sometimes the Colposcopist suggests this is undertaken under general anaesthesia and they may consider performing a hysteroscopy [looking at the inside of the uterus womb with a telescope] as well in order to check that this is healthy.
You will be told how your results will be sent to you and you may be asked to return for a follow-up discussion. If the histology tissue removed from the cervix shows CGIN cervical glandular intraepithelial neoplasia , then if you still wish to have children, you will have regular follow-up in the Colposcopy clinic.
Women who have had treatment for glandular abnormalities will not be part of the new follow-up after treatment HPV test, as this may not always be as accurate as in those with follow-up after treatment of squamous abnormalities.
This will depend on the smear test result. If you have had just one abnormal smear with a low grade abnormality it might get better by itself and colposcopy might not be necessary - you will simply need to have the smear test repeated three months following the pregnancy. It is important to remember that pregnancy has no adverse effect in the progression of abnormal cells CIN or the development of cervical cancer. If a colposcopy has been recommended and an appointment has been made with a colposcopy clinic then you should attend.
Colposcopy will not in any way harm the pregnancy and can provide valuable and reassuring information. In many cases treatment and even biopsy can be deferred until after the pregnancy. It is very important though, to follow through with the suggested plan, to make sure you return to having normal smear tests. Treatment for cervical cancer depends on the stage where the cells are located. Treatment for early stage cervical cancer is likely to be with loop excision.
Cancer may or may not have been suspected from your cervical smear or colposcopy, but the colposcopist will call you back to clinic and explain the findings. Sometimes no further treatment is necessary but the microscopic findings will be confirmed at a meeting of specialists called a multisciplinary team or MDT meeting. Your specialist will discuss the findings of this meeting with you. You may be referred to a cancer specialist or gynaecological oncologist at another hospital.
They may wish to perform an MRI scan, before deciding if you need further treatment. The pelvic lymph glands or lymph nodes that normally deal with infection can be a site of spread or metastatic disease and sometimes your surgeon will recommend that these should be removed with an operation called a lymphadenectomy. This can be performed as a laparoscopic or keyhole procedure. If you wish to have children, a radical trachelectomy may be discussed with you if this is a suitable alternative for treatment.
The cervix is removed either from the vagina or using an abdominal scar and the pelvic lymph nodes are removed. A stitch is placed around the cervix to help support it during a pregnancy, but your surgeon will warn you that late miscarriage and premature delivery are possible and delivery of your baby would have to be by Caesarean Section. The microscopic appearance of the tumour will be examined whilst you are asleep and sometimes the surgeon will need to proceed immediately to hysterectomy despite any earlier plans.
This is discussed with you before undergoing the operation. A radical hysterectomy may be discussed from the outset again depending on the stage. Pelvic radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy is usually offered for more advanced disease and may be offered at a different hospital again.
This would be discussed with your cancer surgeon or clinical oncologist radiotherapy doctor. Radiotherapy or chemoradiotherapy may also be offered following surgery if risk factors are identified in the microscopic report that indicate you are at increased risk of the tumour recurring.
This is called adjuvant treatment and is discussed by the specialists at their cancer MDT meeting.
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