Pap smears can catch cervical cancer early

Contra Costa, CA

Dr. Paul G. Donahue Q&A

Q: Give me some information on HPV and ASCUS. I don't know if I have HPV, but my doctor told me to come back in six months for a repeat Pap smear.

A: Few medical tests have made such a profound impact on reducing cancer statistics than has the Pap smear. It detects abnormal cells early so that the appropriate treatment also can be started early. Since the introduction of the Pap smear, mortality from cervical cancer has been cut in half.

ASCUS means "atypical squamous cells of unknown significance." "Atypical" indicates that the cells aren't exactly normal, but that they aren't cancer cells, either. Squamous cells are the cells that line the cervix, the ones that can become cancerous. In translation, your report says you have some strange-looking cells that aren't cancer, but aren't normal. The usual approach to this situation is to repeat the smear in three to six months. By that time, harmless changes should have cleared.

HPV — human papillomavirus — is the cause of cervical cancer. No cancer changes were seen. No evidence of HPV was noted. If you were infected, your doctor would not have hesitated to tell you so. All you have to do is make sure you have the repeat test so the issue can be cleared up once and for all.

Q: I am an 80-year-old woman, and I'll never be able to wear a bikini again because my body is covered with ugly red spots. The doctor calls them cherry angiomas. They are beginning
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to appear on my trunk and over my thighs and upper arms. I'd like to know how much longer I can expect to play host to them.

A: Cherry angiomas are tiny, round, firm, smooth, red skin projections that are growths of small blood vessels. People can have a few or hundreds. Mostly they spring up on the trunk and upper arms. They have no impact on health.

You can expect to be host to them forever. If they bother you, there are a number of ways to get rid of them. A doctor can dry them up with an electric current or with a laser.

I don't know why they happen. They just do. And they occur mostly in senior years.

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