Abnormal smear test

Cells do not usually go from ‘Normal’ to ‘Cancer’; they go through pre-cancerous changes. We usually classify precancerous change as Mild, Moderate or Severe.

By examining the cells from your smear, we can spot precancerous cells, we can then treat them so you don’t develop cancer.

Precancerous cells in your cervix are caused by a virus, the human papilloma virus (HPV). There are over 100 variations of this virus but only about 10 are aggressive towards the cervix. We can now test to see if you have a high risk HPV. If you do not there are vaccines available which can prevent you from being affected by the most aggressive forms of the virus.