Does no HPV mean no cervical cancer?

[Nancy T]

50 years old, 2 1/2 years menopausal.

My Pap smear came back abnormal for the first time. Can't remember how the nurse characterized it when she called (I think I remember hearing the word "inflammation" and possibly something else), but she definitely said I do NOT have HPV.

She said doctor wanted to do a colposcopy. However, if I don't have HPV, doesn't that mean that it couldn't be cervical cancer?

The gyn. recently did a transvaginal ultrasound because I have occasional SLIGHT (postmenopausal) bleeding, randomly. The "stripe" was great and she didn't see anythign around my ovaries, so all is well there.

So my question--if I don't have HPV, what is the chance I could have precancerous cell changes anyway? Why a colposcopy, since I don't have any other problems?

Thanks,
Nancy T.

[Machelle Seibel, MD]

HPV causes about 70% of cervical cancer, but is not the only cause. If you haven't had an abnormal pap in the past, it is unlikely that you will have cancer. The inflammation could be due to something simple such as low estrogen. However, a colposcopy is a reasonable thing to do either now or after a repeat pap in 3 months to see if it goes away. The colploscopy is just looking through an instrument that looks like a pair of binoculars on a short stand. Special stains make abnormal areas show up better and if there is such an area, a small piece might be pinched off.

Again, with a long history of normal pap smears, the outcome will likely be benign.

Machelle M. Seibel, MD

[Nancy T]

P.S. I'm  sure the no-HPV is a lifelong situation because my husband and I have been lifelong total single-partner people. Also when I said "menopausal" I meant I am POST menopausal.

[Nancy T]

Thanks very much for the info. I was reading that HPV accounts for something like "99 percent" or "nearly all" of cervical cancers, but I guess there must be variation in that number.

Thanks again,
Nancy