LSIL

My pap smear came back apx 4 weeks ago with LSIL. I have a colposcopy scheduled for next week. My doctor's office told me that LSIL is not cancer, but I'm getting increasingly anxious that, once the more thorough exam and biopsy is done, that there will be more....possibly cancer. What is the likelihood that an initial screening of LSIL turns out to be cancer?

[Annekathryn Goodman, M.D.]

Hi There,

as this is an ovarian cancer forum, I want to clarify that pap smears are not a screening test for ovarian cancer.  Nor is a pap smear reading of LSIL (low grade squamous intraepithelial lesion) in any way a reflection of a problem with the ovaries.

Pap smear tests screen for cervical cancer. The cervix is the opening to the uterus that is located at the top of the vagina.

LSIL is usually just a reflection of exposure to a sexually transmitted viral infection called Human Papillomavirus (HPV) and not cancer of the cervix. However, a careful evaluation by colposcopy is standard good medical care.

Here is a nice site that summarizes Pap smear evaluation

http://www.usask.ca/cme/articles/abnormalpap.shtml

best wishes