friend is very upset pls help - Cancer: Breast Message Board

hayley0610 · 05-20-2004, 04:30 PM

my friend who is young,22, and healthy. hasnt really had a very active sexual life has just come back from teh doctor very upset!! 6 months ago she had a pap and they said they found cancer cells on her uterus but to make sure come back in 6 months. so she did and now they say they are still there. she is freaking out! they want to take a peice of her cervix out(i think it was cervix or uterus not sure) to test it. the intern at the docs said it doesnt look good, but the only she has had to go on is the positive cell test to say that. i told my friend this is common but that i dotn kow much mroe than that and that id post and let her know any advice from people here. she also has never been pregnant, she has diabetes, she isnt overweight and has normal periods and is also ont he pill. any help from you guys would be fantastic!!

Juliebrat · 05-20-2004, 04:47 PM

A pap smear is only sensitive enough to detect cancerous cells on the cervix, so I'm not sure why they are telling her she has uterine cancer. Unless they performed a biopsy of her uterus, they wouldn't know that from the pap smear. On the matter of waiting, while I ALWAYS advocate for women to take charge of their own health and not screw around with a cancer diagnosis, I think there is more to this story. For instance, they could have said PRE cancerous changes on her cervix, which will sometimes go away by themselves without treatment. BUT, if they told her for certain that she indeed had cancer on her cervix, then she should have found a different dr and made them do something in the way of treatment right then and there! Even though 99% of cervical cancer spreads very, very slowly, it can and will eventually spread. My advice now, is to get a clear diagnosis of what she has EXACTLY and then take the appropriate steps. Follow up at this point, if she did indeed have cancer 6 months ago, should now include a cone biopsy, a pelvic ultrasound, a CBC and if needed, an MRI of her abdomen. Please have her be diligent with this!

hayley0610 · 05-20-2004, 04:55 PM

thanks julie, im guessing it said she had precancerous cells, she has not been nec. diagnosed with cancer at this point, sorry if i didnt explain right. it would be the thing you said where some things clear up on their own which in this case it didnt. cells were just found. she is the type of person that will go get it checked out and at this point they just want to take a biopsy of the area to see what they find, i dont have too much info cept for what i said. i think my point to this post is, is this common? what happens if it comes back as cells detected as far as treatment and what should she expect now? thanks for the feedback!!

Juliebrat · 05-20-2004, 05:12 PM

If it was pre-cancerous cells, then yep that is the most common procedure, to wait and see. But, since she did that and they are still there, then she'll need to follow through to see how far the cells have spread or not, or if they have actually become cancerous at this point. My advice will be different than her drs I'm sure, but she will need extensive biopsies of the area in question, along with biopsies of other areas just to be sure nothing has moved around. I have had many friends with pre-cancer of the cervix, and they go in for leeps which removes those cells, but in cases where the cells change to cancer, usually removal of the cervix is warranted. Sometimes, depending on the circumstances, a hysterectomy is needed. With her age though, that would not be a good choice until it was a last resort. I'm sure there are numerous treatment options for her. If you have anymore questions, feel free to ask. I have alot of medical knowledge when it comes to female stuff, as I've been through most of it.

I'm glad to help!