Abnormal PAP Smears, HPV, 
Cervical Dysplasia and Cancer

Edited excerpts from our book
A Gynecologist's Second Opinion
by William H. Parker, M.D.

WHAT DO THE PAP SMEAR RESULTS MEAN?
The terminology used to describe pap smear results has changed over the past few years, leading to confusion about what the results of your pap smear actually mean. Originally, pap smears were divided into 5 "classes" based on what the cells looked like to the pathologist. Class I was normal, while class II cells appeared a little irregular to the pathologist, usually representing bacterial infection. Class III and IV pap smears suggested that dysplastic cells were present, and further testing needed to be done. Class V usually meant cancer.

Unfortunately, this class system led to confusion regarding what "number" pap smear a woman had and what that really meant. Recently, a new system for pap smear classification called the Bethesda System has been introduced. The term "low grade" lesion is now used for cells that appear to be infected with HPV or are only mildly abnormal. "High grade" is the new terminology for more abnormal appearing cells, the type that would have been called class III or IV with the old "class" system. A pap smear that looks like cancer is now labeled "cancer" rather than called class V. The Bethesda System allows the pathologist to actually describe what is seen, rather than just assign a number to the pap smear result. In that way it is an improvement over the old "class system". 

WHAT IS CERVICAL DYSPLASIA AND CARCINOMA-IN-SITU?
During sexual intercourse, viruses or other, as yet unidentified, cancer-causing agents may get into the cells of the cervix and cause them to grow abnormally. When these cervical cells grow abnormally, they are considered to have dysplasia. This is a word derived from Greek which means "abnormal tisssue growth". Early on, dysplastic cells stay within the cervical skin. The skin has no blood or lymph vessels that the abnormal cells can invade and, therefore, they have no way to leave the cervix and spread to other areas of the body. Because dysplasia is confined to the skin, it is easy to treat. 

Carcinoma-in-situ (CIS) is not cancer. In fact, it is just a severe form of dysplasia, and the abnormal cells still remain confined within the skin and CIS can not spread to other areas of the body. Recently, in order to eliminate confusion, the term carcinoma-in-situ was replaced with the term high-grade dysplasia. However, if high-grade dysplasia is left untreated over a number of years, the cells may eventually break through the skin layer into the layer beneath, where blood and lymph vessels do exist. These cells can now spread to other areas of the body and cervical cancer is said to be present. 

SUSAN'S ABNORMAL PAP AND LEEP 
Susan is a 33-year-old woman who came in for her annual pap and pelvic examination. Although she had been treated with croytherapy 10 years earlier for precancerous cells of the cervix, all of her pap smears since then had come back normal. We were both a little shocked when this pap smear was read as a high-grade abnormality by the pathologist. While none of the cells looked like cancer, we needed to do a colposcopy to evaluate the cells of the cervix and determine which type of treatment would be needed. Susan came back to the office a week later for her colposcopy. Suprisingly, the outside skin of her cervix looked fairly normal through the colposcope. However, the area of cells where dysplasia or cancer usually develops, the transition zone, could not be seen. 

Because I was not able to see this area of Susan's cervix, I recommended that we remove a portion of the canal of the cervix with the LEEP instrument. Removal would serve two purposes. First, the pathologist could examine the tissue under the microscope and make a final diagnosis of how abnormal the cells appeared. Second, the cells would be removed and, therefore, no further treatment would likely be needed. Susan agreed. With an extremely small needle, I injected a small amount of anesthetic, mixed with a chemical to help prevent bleeding, into her cervix. The injection did not bother her at all. Next, the wire loop of the LEEP instrument was used to remove a portion of the canal area from her cervix. Because of the anesthetic, she did not feel this at all. I then scraped the cells high up in the remaining cervical canal for the pathologist to check and make sure that no abnormal cells had been left behind. The entire procedure had taken about three minutes. 

The pathology report came back about a week later. It showed that the cells were indeed precancerous and had been growing up inside the cervical canal. Fortunately, all the abnormal cells appeared to have been removed, and the scrapping of cells from the remaining part of the cervical canal were entirely healthy. The follow-up for Susan included pap smears every three months for a year, then every six months after that. They have all been fine and no further evaluation or treatment has been neccesary. 

WHAT IS COLPOSCOPY?
The colposcope is essentially a set of binoculars attached to the top of a stand. This instrument allows the doctor to see a magnified view of the blood vessels on the skin covering the cervix. As abnormal cells grow, they push the normal blood vessels of the cervix out of their way. These red blood vessels can be seen as they form unusual patterns on the pale pink background of the skin. The patterns typically change as the cells become more abnormal. Your doctor will look for these patterns to determine whether abnormal cells are present, how abnormal they appear to be, and how large or small an area they involve. Colposcopy is an accurate way to check on the results of the pap smear. If abnormal patterns are seen when viewed by the colposcope, then a cervical biopsy will be needed.

WHAT IS LEEP?
LEEP stands for loop electrosurgical excision procedure. This procedure was developed in Europe years ago and has been frequently performed in the United States since the 1980's. A small wire loop is placed against the cervix, and an electric current is passed through the loop making it extremely hot. The loop is then able to cut through the cervix in much the same way that a hot knife can cut through butter. The procedure requires special instruments, but can be performed in the doctor's office and only takes a few minutes to do. Local anesthesia is injected into the cervix, and virtually no discomfort occurs during LEEP. The small portion of the cervix that is removed is then sent to the pathologist for examination. Healing of the cervix occurs over a 6 week period of time. LEEP is both diagnostic and therapeutic, in that the abnormal cells are removed as treatment, and they are also sent to the lab for diagnosis. LEEP removes somewhat more tissue than the regular cervical biopsy and is also more expensive. Therefore, we use it only when we think that removing more tissue will be neccesary. 

 

The following questions and answers can be found in our book

  • ABOUT ABNORMAL PAP SMEARS

  • WHAT IS CERVICAL DYSPLASIA AND CARCINOMA-IN-SITU ?

  • WHERE DO THESE ABNORMAL CELLS DEVELOP?

  • WHAT CAUSES CERVICAL DYSPLASIA AND CANCER? 

  • WHAT ARE THE RISK FACTORS FOR GETTING CERVICAL DYSPLASIA AND CANCER?

  • CAN SMOKING INCREASE YOUR RISK OF CERVICAL DYSPLASIA AND CANCER?

  • HOW COMMON IS HPV?

  • ARE SOME TYPES OF HPV WORSE THAN OTHERS? 

  • WHAT ARE THE SYMPTOMS OF CERVICAL DYSPLASIA OR CANCER?

  • HOW DO WE DIAGNOSE CERVICAL DYSPLASIA AND CANCER?

 

  • THE PAP SMEAR 

  • WHAT DOES THE PATHOLOGIST LOOK FOR IN THE PAP SMEAR?

  • WHAT DO THE PAP SMEAR RESULTS MEAN?

  • SHOULD YOUR SEXUAL PARTNER BE EVALUATED FOR HPV?

  • IF YOU HAVE AN ABNORMAL PAP SMEAR, SHOULD IT BE TREATED?

  • WHAT OTHER TESTS SHOULD BE DONE IF YOUR PAP SMEAR IS ABNORMAL?

 

  • DIAGNOSIS AND TREATMENT OF ABNORMAL PAP SMEARS

  • WHAT IS COLPOSCOPY?

  • WHAT IS A CERVICAL BIOPSY?

  • WHAT ARE THE TREATMENTS FOR CERVICAL DYSPLASIA?

  • WHAT IS CRYOTHERAPY?

  • WHAT IS LEEP?

  • WHEN IS LASER SURGERY USED FOR ABNORMAL CERVICAL CELLS?

  • WHAT IS A CONE BIOPSY?

  • CAN THE TREATMENT FOR CERVICAL DYSPLASIA INTERFERE WITH FERTILITY OR CHILDBIRTH?

  • WHAT ARE THE CURE RATES FOR CERVICAL DYSPLASIA?

  • DOES A HYSTERECTOMY MAKES SENSE FOR ABNORMAL CERVICAL CELLS? 

 

  • ABOUT CERVICAL CANCER

  • WHAT IS CERVICAL CANCER?

  • WHAT IS A RADICAL HYSTERECTOMY?

  • CAN RADIATION THERAPY BE USED TO TREAT CERVICAL CANCER?

  • WHAT ARE THE SIDE-EFFECTS OF RADIATION?

  • WHAT ARE THE CURE RATES FOR CERVICAL CANCER?

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