Abnormal Pap

• By corellin
• Posted June 28, 2009 at 10:32 am
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Hi Suedg -- Is it possible that your mom was exposed to DES during her pregnancy? That could lead to abnormal findings without HPV. But, yes, it's also possible for low grade abnormalities to be caused by infections or inflammation that are unrelated to HPV or even a type of HPV that's not covered by the type of HPV test you had (most likely the Digene HC2 test). But if you have an abnormal pap caused by one of the HPV types not covered by the Digene HPV test, then it's much less likely that your HPV type would lead to cancer, because the 13 in the Digene test are the most likely to progress (in some cases, if left untreated). A low risk type of HPV could cause an abnormal pap, but is unlikely to lead to cancer.

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• By Suedg
• Posted June 28, 2009 at 11:05 am
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Thank you soooo much for this reply it was very very helpful to me.
I have no idea if my Mom ws exposed to that. I wonder if there is a way to find out?
Do you have any more info on what kind of infection a person could have or what inflammation is form that would make pap abnormal?
Sue

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• By corellin
• Posted June 28, 2009 at 11:18 am
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Hi Sue -- I think the best place to start would be to find out specifically from your doctor what type of pap "abnormality" you have. And, you could ask your mom whether she was exposed to DES during her pregnancy with you, although usually DES exposure happened to some women born between 1938 and 1971 (doctors used drug to try to prevent miscarriages), so you're slightly on the young side to have been exposed. Has the doctor made any suggestions for followup? And, anything that causes inflammation or irritation could cause an abnormal pap, but, first, would be helpful to perhaps get a copy of your medical records from the doctor so you can see specifically what's going on.

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• By Suedg
• Posted June 28, 2009 at 11:46 am
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My results say atypical squamous cells of undetermined significance (asc-us) and it also says
HPV DNA,int/high risk NOT DETECTED
would that help you be able to give me anymore info?
Does that definitely state hpv is involved from the words atypical squamous cells or could this stil mean infection or inflammation?
I greatly appreciate your help!
Sue

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• By flowershoplady
• Posted June 28, 2009 at 8:47 pm
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your results are saying that they have not detected an active hpv infection, and yes, and ASCUS pap could be from an infection or inflammation. has your doctor done any tests for infections?

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• By Suedg
• Posted June 28, 2009 at 8:53 pm
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I am so glad you proposed that question. They are not ordering me any test for an infection or inflammation she just left e with the impression it probably was hpv related and to come back in 6 months. I feel it is not hpv related because I also have elevated liver tests and just had a blatter infection along with a great deal of stress because of my Mom and her aggressive cervical cancer. What do you guys think I should do? Should I request tests? If so what kinds of test?
Thanks so much.
Sue

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• By flowershoplady
• Posted June 28, 2009 at 9:09 pm
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perhaps you should ask why the doctor thinks it's hpv related when the hpv test was negative. did they only test for high risk hpv strains?

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• By Suedg
• Posted June 28, 2009 at 9:14 pm
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Yes they only tested for the 13 high risk strains. I did ask her and she is not really a Doctor she is an assistant who is right under a Doc. She is an old school Doc and I love her to death but she is very opinionated and said that ALL abnormal paps are from hpv and I do not believe that to be true. I told her I looked on line and found things and she said what ever I am reading is outdated. I asked if she could test for the other strains and she said they don't do that because they are not high risk and typically don't turn into cancer. So that is how I am starting to get confused. I wonder if it is form inflammation or infection if it should be treated sicne I am leaving it go and how I would go about getting tested for that.
Thanks again for your time.
Sue

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• By BB33301
• Posted June 28, 2009 at 10:25 pm
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Hi Sue:

I would say the majority of bad paps are from HPV (low and high risk). They can also come from menopause or damaged tissues from radiation.
I have atypia and LSIL. They did a whole hosts of biopsies to see what is going on and should have the results back soon.

if you have had more then 2.1 sex partners or your partner has had mor ethen 2.1(most people in the US fall into the above category), chances are you have HPV.

Be diligent and follow up aggressively.

Beth

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• By corellin
• Posted June 29, 2009 at 1:57 am
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Hi Suedge -- At the International Papillomavirus Conference in May, 2009, one of the presenters talked about ASCUS and the percentage of cases that are usually due to HPV versus those that are not. In younger women, the majority of ASCUS cases are caused by high risk HPV (according to this presenter), and an HPV+ ascus versus HPV- would be distinguished by an HPV test. In older women, the majority of ASCUS cases are not caused by HPV, and, again, an HPV test is used to triage the results and determine the best mode of followup. Unless your HPV test was inaccurate for some reason, if you have ASCUS, but are HPV negative, then you're at very low risk for HPV-related dysplasia or cancer or progression to cancer.

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