My friend that had her pap that was black, turns out it was the biopsy that was black. But, her PAP came back negative for cancer, but the Dr. could see it. So he did the biopsy and it came back cervical cancer. Should we all worry that a PAP won't work? It scares me. Thanks

I had a pap a year ago that came back normal, but because my doctor thought my cervix looked like it had a nodule on it she wanted me to see a gyn for a colposcopy. I had the colposcopy and 4 biopsies and one of the biopsies showed abnormal cells....6 months later I had another pap, an HPV test, colposcopy and biopsy. The HPV and pap were negative, but the biopsy showed more abnormal cells. I go again next week for another pap, colposcopy and biopsy......I wonder how many others have the same problem?
Why doesn't the pap show the cells? I have to get a colpo/biopsy every 6 months until two biopsies in a row show up normal.

Kinda makes you wonder if instead of paps they ought to give biops.

I'm trying to remember the exact words of my Doctor, but it's been awhile...I believe he told me that the pap is just a screening tool to detect abnormalities. The colo and bio actually determine what the abnormalities are. He also said that it is possible to miss abnormalities when they swab the cervix during the pap.

That doesn't make you feel that great does it? It makes me wonder if the "normal" results I got back after my first leep were actually normal or did he just miss the dysplasia since it is now "back?" I believe they should always do a colo instead of a pap, but with the expense of it I don't see that happening anytime in the future. Besides the discharge of the vinager afterwards is never plesant. Remind me again why is it great to be a women? :rolleyes: Hope your friend is able to get rid of the cancer safely and quickly! :angel:

From what I've read, the pap screening is more likely to pick up pre-cancerous cell changes versus actual cancer. It is good that the doctor did a biopsy when she did the pap instead of waiting for the smear results to come in. I think it is also standard of care to biopsy any spots/lesions that may be visible on the cervix when doing a pap smear.

Pap smears do have a false negative rate (as well as a false positive rate) however this should not stop any woman from getting a smear. If you go regularly for your smears, cell changes are more likely to be caught early rather than later.

Sugarhi16, I totally agree with you. I have often wondered why they don't give every women a colpo, and then get really angry when I remind myself it's because of the money issue!

I'm definitely coming back as a man!

I've been having paps for the last 4 years and they've always been normal... until the last one I had about 3 weeks ago, it showed CIN III... the Dr's said that when u do a pap u only swab the cervix... not always get a sufficient sample or when we talk about CIN I or II not all the cells are abnormal... so it's alway possible to miss the abnormal cells and get a normal result..... anyways my mom had 4 paps in a row 'cuz she had pelvic pain.... and only one of the four paps came abnormal....! it really makes you wonder how good paps are!

PAPs are one of the only screening tests that have drastically reduced the number of cancer deaths - by thousands. PAPs aren't perfect, but no doctor or researcher would ever claim that they are error-free. However, they have saved so many lives that their benefits are worth it.

Money isn't the only reason that colpos aren't regularly done on everyone. They're also annoying, lengthy, and painful if biopsies are taken. In terms of public health, it's hard just to get women to come for PAPs, which are quick and painless, and it would be even harder to convince women to get routine colpos.

Besides, the vast majority of women don't NEED colpos, so forcing them all to undergo the discomfort would be unreasonable, especially when PAPs do a good (if not perfect) job of screening out the women who actually need them. There's no reason to be overly aggressive and subject women to unpleasant experiences that are most often not necessary.