posted by lushai
07 July 2008
grade 1 abnormal cells
Last reply:
12 October 2015 11:14
hi,
last year i had a smear test done and the results came back Borderline Nuclear Changes, i had a repeat smear done a six months later which came back a few days ago as Grade 1 abnormal cells, and as a result have to have another smear in 6 months time.
i am unsure as to what this means, am i on the road to getting cevical cancer??
Hi Lushai,
First of all, abnormal cells do not mean you have cancer – the abnormal changes indicate that there are early changes in the cells on the surface of the cervix. There are different grades of changes in the cells, called high-grade and low-grade changes. The high- grade changes can be pre-cancerous. One of the main causes of theses changes is the HPV virus. The body can usually clear this virus with no treatment. The usual procedure is to repeat the smear, as is the case with you, in 6 months, if the abnormal changes persist, then they will decide to treat this, by having a procedure called a Colposcopy and the abnormal cell are removed.
The ICS has a booklet on understanding smear results- you can find it by copying this link into your browser:
http://cancer.ie/cancerInfo/cancers.php
Best Wishes