Im scared about precancerous cells, can some one talk to me about it?

Question

Hi all,
i had precancerous cells removed by loop or something? it was sin 3. I had op. in Feb this year. I gave natural birth to a prem baby at 25 weeks Nov.05 and unfortunately my boy passed away this year in April. Ive read some of the questions and answers in this website and i became very scared. I read of people dying ect.. cant it be treated if you get the cancer and survive? Will i get it again do u think? I had my 6 month check up from Feb. just 3 weeks ago and it was all ok. My doctor said wont need to c me until next July 07. Im scared after i read this info. To tell u the truth i dont even know what it all means and where i stand. I was going through too much trauma at the time. I also lost my mum just 2 months ago. Will i be able to go through another pregnancy do you think as ive already had a prem baby and then had the cells removed? pls help me, what can i do to try and prevent this from coming back? Ill do anything?
regards
Christine

Answer 1

I'm very sorry to hear about your losses. On to your question though. I'm assuming by your questions that you had a Pap smear done and your doctor told you about some precancerous cells. You then had a biopsy done which indicated CIN 3. This is what is called "carcinoma in-situ" level 3. It means that a section of your cervix had abnormal cells completely through the full thickness of the outer layer. The treatment is to have it "burned" off using either a laser or a freezing agent. It sounds like you've already had this section removed. Your doctor will want to continue to monitor you as occasionally these precancerous areas can recur. This is because the cancer itself was most likely caused by a virus known as "human papilloma virus" or HPV. This virus is sexually transmitted. The FDA just recently approved a vaccine for four of the more common variants of the virus for women aged 11-26. Once you have the virus though, the vaccine will not cure you of that particular strain.

You should be able to have another normal pregnancy. Your pre-term delivery most likely had nothing to do with this finding. In order to keep this from becoming more serious you need to make sure that you get your Pap smear every year. The whole reason for the Pap smear is to find abnormal cells like you had removed. Be greatful that you caught yours and can eradicate the area before it becomes invasive.

If you have more questions, you should schedule an appointment with your doctor to discuss your concerns. You might even want to bring in a print out of your original question.

Answer 2

Pre-cancerous cells are cells that have an abnormal shape or dimension to them in contrast to normal cells. I have what is called dysplasia - it is throughout my whole body - every time I have a biopsy it comes up the same - I had a normal pregnancy after having 2/3 of my cervix removed. So, you should be fine with that. Depending on which dr. evaluates me, some say I have a 50% chance of having cancer because I have dysplasia and the other 50% say I don't have to worry about it since I have dysplasia cell structures. So, take your pick. You might search out your specifics on www.medlineplus.gov. It has always been informative for me. Christine, I do want to say I'm really sorry to hear of the loss of your child and your mother. That makes for a really hard year. I hope you have found a peace that passeth understanding. A lot of what I do, since I have a brain tumor and metal poisoning in my blood is spend time on this computer, so if you ever contact me, I'm on IM and answers a lot and check my email frequently - so feel free to talk to me - If you go through my answers, which you are free to do, you'll learn a lot about me and if I can be of any comfort to you, then I'm glad to offer hope and encouragement that gets me through. Deanna aka dph_40 aka dumpfinds!

Answer 3

Hi, Christine.

First of all, let me tell you how sorry I am to hear of the loss of your son and mother. That must have been very heartbreaking.

I had pre-cancerous cells and underwent a LEEP (loop electrosurgical excision procedure) conization in 1994. I have had clean PAP tests ever since. So do not worry so much. Here is more information: http://www.webmd.com/hw/womens_conditions/hw28185.asp

The most important thing is that they removed all of the effected tissues, and that you take good care of yourself. If you do want another pregnancy, they will very likely use a cerclage to hold the cervix closed during the pregnancy. Here's more information on that: http://www.americanpregnancy.org/pregnancycomplications/cervicalcerclage.html