Chance of cervical cancer at 25

[Lyndz1]

I am so scared at the minute. I was at my gp yesterday for swabs and she also had a look at my cervix because i had bleeding during ad after sex last week. I am so worried i have cervical cancer. I had my last pap smear just under 2 years ago and it came back normal so what would my chances be of having it? The doctor said it is unlikely to be cancer as my cervix looks fine and my pap came back normal last time so why am i so certain this is what is causing the bleeding?

[miss diagnosis]

it takes 10 years for pre cancerous cells to turn into cervical cancer so if your last one was clear dont worry. Also your cervix would look eroded so if she says it looks fine then im sure it is. Many things can cause bleeding after sex. I had it for a while and it was caused by a small cut in my vaginal wall (torn by a fingernail sorry if TMI!)or it could be hormonal if you are on the pill.

[anxietyoverload]

Im currently going through the same thing! I had spotting after sex. Iv also had a lot of pain in my hips and legs! Iv been to my docs and she said my cervix looks inflamed! she said it could be thrush! but iv pretty much convinced myself its cancer!"

[spacebunnyx]

it is extremely rare but it does happen before the age of 25. If your last pap smear was normal (especially as in the last few years they've introduced a new technique called liquid based cytology) I would go with that. It is almost unheard of to develop cervical cancer if you have smear tests when asked to. My cells were extremely abnormal when I was 26.. it was picked up on a smear.

xxx

[TotallyBonkers]

Hi Lyndz1

I honestly would not worry about Cervical Cancer at all. Lots of women have bleeding after sex, it is actually quite common.

To answer your question the chances of you having full blown cervical cancer is extremely minimal.

almost 99% of cervical cancer is caused by the HPV virus, normally our own bodies defence mechanism will beat this virus on its own, but on rare cases the hpv can take a hold and our body may not be able to dispel the virus on its own, that is why smear tests are carried out.

HPV will change the cells on the cervix. There are three stages with this. The first one is CIN 1 which is borderline changes, if this happens you are normally told to go back in 6 months for a repeat smear, the reason for this is that there is a very strong likely hood that the cell changes will go back to normal on their own.

CIN 2 is moderate cell changes, if that was the case you would then be sent for a colposcopy for them to look closer at the cell changes and to treat them there and then. THIS IS NOT CANCER

CIN 3 is severe cell changes, again this is the same as above, apart from their being more cells that have changed in this case. These cells are less likely to revert back to normal on their own and if left untreated *could* turn to cervical cancer, again treatment is given for the cell changes and that is as far as it goes.

The fact your smear was clear last time shows there were no cell changes. If cell changes occur through hpv then it takes at least 6 years for those changes to get to CIN3 and in most cases even longer. That again is why smear tests are so important as it then highlights any possible problems before they truly begin.

Once CIN3 has occurred it can take a further 10 years for that to turn into invasive cervical cancer.

I hope that this shows you that there really is no need to worry.xx