Is there such a thing as a virulent form of cervical cancer?

[DumbledoresGirl]

In other words, a form of cervical cancer that could develop and cause symptoms inbetween 3 yearly smear tests?

Or how likely is it that a smear test could provide a false all clear?

Worrying and too scared to google.

If you are worrying, then get yourself to the GP, Family Planning, or Sexual Health clinic ASAP. There's nothing we can say here that is going to tell you whether there is something to worry about, or know that theres not.

Any burying your head in the sand about worrying symptoms does not help one bit.

Go now !

Thanks, I have a smear test due and I am just waiting for the phones to calm down after the weekend to ring for an appointment. (Impossible to get through at this time of day and the receptionists can be snappy if you are not ringing on essential business )

I didn't list my symptoms or ask you if you thought I had cervical cancer. I know I need a smear test to determine that. I would like to know an answer to my questions though if anyone has any idea.

KM annually? Fuck!

i thought smear tests were pretty accurate. the tests show if you have any pre cancerous cells, which can be treated even before any evidence of cancer. I don't know how quickly it develops, but i would have thought they would have timed the test to every 3 years to take that into consideration. I had a questionable smear test once, they weren't sure if it was just a contaminated sample, so i had to have a smear every year for three years.

According to the American Cancer Society (professional doctor's body) cervical cancer takes seven years to progress from initial outset to "pre-invasive lesions". They think that yearly screening is not necessary. Link is here.

I found it through google - so no need to worry.

OK - yes, cervical cancer can develop very quickly in certain cases, and I have seen it. Most common in young women who are infected with HPV at an early age and who smoke heavily.

Smears can be a false negative as obv not all the cervix is necessarily sampled. Again, unusual, and all women diagnosed with cervical cancer have their smears rechecked to ensure that there was nothing detectable on the slide

3 years is chosen in the UK as the vast majority of cervical dysplasia takes much longer than that to go from nothing to higher than CINIII, and so it balances the time to go through the precancer stages to amount of money per screen.

Sorry for being brusque, but I had an upsetting experience last week with someone who had asked friends if she might have cervical cancer and so didn't do anything about it.

Not exactly an answer to your question, but officially around 75% of cervical cancers will be prevented by having three-yearly scans, which implies that 25% will happen anyway, although I don't know whether that's because they are particularly aggressive and happen between smears or because the test just doesn't pick up the changes.

Thank you everyone. And I understood your first response Cmot and apologise if I sounded rude back but I am in a bit of a state at the moment. I usually feel the same way as you when people ask things that can only be investigated by the correct test.

I see cancer in every lump, bump, ache and pain I have so I know I am being paranoid, but I also have some classic cervical cancer symptoms and I cried myself to sleep last night worrying about it.

My only consolation is that I am not one who has dipped out of the regular 3 yearly smears so I am hoping I am worrying about nothing. I do however have experience of medical testing (for something else) which failed to show up a massive problem so I know that all screening is fallible.

Off to ring surgery now.

There is a rarer kind that can miss smear tests for a while. I had it. Glandular rather than squamous (skin) cell abnormalities.

It really is rare though, the consultant said they see under ten cases a year like me. My gp hadn't even heard of it.

Cervical cancer symptoms are much more likely to be caused by something else if you have all your smears, so try not to worry. Obviously always important to check out your symptoms though, so go and see your doctor. Good luck.

Made an appointment but it is not for another 3 weeks! I shall be a nervous wreck by then!

sorry, hope I haven't made you worry more. I wanted to answer your question but try and reassure you it's very unlikely.

Hi, DumbledoresGirl,

3 weeks does seem a very long time to wait if you are really worried. Does your surgery understand this isn't a routine smear request? Do you have a drop-in sexual health clinic near you, as they can do smears for you, have a look at your cervix, test for anything else that could cause the same symptoms and probably do it all much more quickly and efficiently than your practice nurse, because they spend all day and every day sticking specula inside women...

Ummm no, I did not mention symptoms and as far as the surgery was concerned, it was a routine request for a smear (I got my reminder letter just before Christmas so I have not really left it too long, have I?)

Oh dear, you are all going to pounce on me now and tell me to ring up and give them my symptoms now, aren't you? I can't do that. I am trying to be calm and tell myself I am worrying about nothing whilst at the same time being sensible and getting the smear done just in case.

I have not been able to resist googling and I have managed to reassure myself in so far as I am not in any of the high risk categories and I have had regular smears. I know I am being a bit head in the sand about it all though.

if you have mid cycle bleeding, bleeding after sex etc then you need to phone back and tell them and get seen quicker

Lulumama, it is not bleeding after sex or mid cycle (if midcycle means strictly that: half way through the cycle). It is bleeding just before the period and now a day after the period has stopped.

so your periods are a bit erratic... perhaps peri menopause? something hormonal? rather than cancer?

Periods are all over the shop and I could well be perimenopausal except I was tested for this a couple of years back and wasn't then (but obviously that was a couple of years back...) Plus, I can't find anything under perimenopausal to describe the eratic cycles I have, the eratic bleeding I have (though always around the time of my period) or the illness I regularly feel.

TBH, I am feeling a complete mess. Am I the only one who regularly interprets this as signs of something sinister?

you need to see the doc sooner rather than later, and IMHO non medical opinion also, i don;t think you have cancer, but certainly some blood tests would be in order x

i think if you have health anxiety issues it won;t be helping, i usually never go to the docs unless i am coughing up bloody mucus or something equally yuk, i am probably a bit too laissez faire with my health!

DG I have similar (ish ) period symptoms to you and just put it down to getting older (hormones going a bit mad) my smear was fine. Obviously continue to have the test and try not too worry too much.