Had LEEP for CIN3

BE 123

Chances are pretty good (more likely than not) that it is now "gone", but I don't have exact figures off the top of my head. As far as how long to wait, you can get pregnant after LEEP anytime you want, but I would say 8 weeks to allow your cervix to fully heal from the LEEP.

I have a question: yours is one of the handful I've seen that have the specific STRAINS listed. What is the name of your test your doctor ordered? I see you are in Italy, and I know one lady in Greece whose results came back with specific strains, not just the generic "high risk serotype detected." It must be a European thing. The US has some catching up to do.

jennifer434

Hi, thanks for your help.
Here in Italy the do what I think is called a HPV DNA Test, pratically the same as a pap test really which can tell you which strain of hpv you have. As far as I know 16 & 18 are the highest risk followed by 31, 45 & 58 among others. the other 150 or so are low risk.

thanks again

Bean2008

Hi jennifer434,

I'd like to echo brieaukirsch's curiosity about the HPV DNA test that pinpointed the exact strains you have. Three different doctors here have told me that this is quite impossible, but clearly it is possible!

I'm seeing a gyn/oncologist on Friday, and would love to tell her the name of the test you had, so she can find out if it is available here.

If it isn't too much trouble, could you please find out the exact name of the test? Lots of us here in the States would love to know - it's frustrating to get back results that only inform you that "you have a high risk strain".

Many thanks in advance for any info you can provide!

jennifer434

The test i had is called HPV DNA CERVICALE in italian. Basically it is just a normal pap test but the stick they use is swiped about 5 times round the cervix. It's a routine exam they do here in hpv cases. It gives you the strains you have (mine are 31 -45- 58) and tells you their level of risk. I think maybe some countries just don't give a lot of importance to these tests seeing as if you have cin3 you are going to treat it if its caused by strain 18 or say strain 40 for example. It helps in cases where there is cin1 because if you know that it's caused by the 16 or 18 strain then you're going to treat it straightaway because it's unlikely that it will go away on it's own.
I'll repeat this test in January, it's not very likely that the hpv will be gone (at least from my cervix) in such short space of time but i'm hoping to have just 1 or 2 strains left and not 3!!

I found this article. Seems to be called Hpv dna test in English.

[url]http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/563801[/url]

Hope that helps...ask away if you need any more info

Pickle Eyes

Thanks for all of the information, Jennifer. As far as I know, the Digene HPV/dna test is the one most frequently given in the USA. That's the one my doctor used. I did not receive info on the specific strains, just that I was positive for high risk.

I agree that there is no real need, right now, to know specificly which strains I have. But I would think in the future, as researchers gather more data about HPV, it might make a difference which strains one carries.

Interesting stuff. Thanks for getting back with us!

jennifer434

You're welcome. I'm happy to pass on any info I have. I thought it was strange that they didn't do this test in the US. The probably do know which strain you have but don't tell you as it is only important to the doctor...who knows!

Anyway, I just read the other day that here in Milan they have started using a technique called (in italian ) Ikoniscope which the say will eventually make pap tests and colposcopies obsolete. In the past it was used to diagnose bladder cancer but it has been adapted for the cervix just recently.

After/if I get the all clear in my next pap I'm going try this!

Pickle Eyes

I just read about the ikoniscope. It seems it was developed by an American company (or that's what the article seemed to say). I haven't heard of its use, yet. But it sounds good. My only concern is there is still no way of detecting glandular dysplasia unless it appears on the exocervix.

The more I think about it (and I'm thinking about it a lot right now- since I am nearing my anniversary date of the beginning of my cancer ordeal) the more I am amazed that my cancer was even found. I worry about the women who are in the same situation, are getting annual paps, are getting clear results, yet have cancer growing higher in their cervix. It saddens me.

Anyway, I'm off topic. Thanks for the info on the ikonoscope and the HPV test.

BE 123

Jennifer, thank you so much! And it is ROUTINE?!! Geez. It has been well established for decades now that 16/18 are the types that matter, AND that infection with multiple types matters. Having said that, I don't think I am going to push for typing, because that would just scare me more. I THINK you are referring to Ikonysis (the company)'s product, the oncoFISH but maybe you aren't. It is seeking approval (maybe already approved) for bladder cancer and now they're trying it out on cervical. Believe me when I say no doctor here has heard of it--I asked and they all looked at me blankly (then irritably) and said we were lightyears away from that. Bean2008, as Jennifer just showed us, it IS possible to type your specific strain(s), and the doctors who told you otherwise are sorely misinformed. It's been my experience that most American doctors (even gyn-onc specialists) don't bother keeping up with new research. But just you try bringing this to their attention, they look at you like you are out of your mind since you are not a doctor. It's very frustrating.

The US uses the Roche Amplicor, but only a few teaching institutions have access to that. I'm telling you...compared to parts of Europe, US is waaay behind in this HPV stuff. France is where the HPV vaccine originated and now a French company, Transgene, is developing an HPV therapeutic vaccine.

jennifer434

Pap tests and HPV tests are routine. the ikoniscope isn't routine yet as there is only one center in the whole of Italy that is starting to use it just this month (and it's near my house! )The good thing is that it's available to everybody both privately and through the national health service. I'd like to try it although it will most def give me a negative answer i think seeing as I know I have hpv.

I was wondering in the US do you repeat the hpv test after treatment (leep, cone ecc) my doctor said she'll repeat it at 6 months if my next pap is clear...no point doing it obviously if it's not. i've heard that in cases like mine where I have 3 high risk strains that it is possibile to retest and discover that 1 or 2 have disappeared and just be left with one.

BE 123

Typically US docs do not repeat the HPV test. US docs think if your pap is fine, you're fine, and Pickle Eyes' doc is not the norm. If a pap is abnormal they send it for reflex HPV testing which is kind of pointless bc what else causes a bad pap? I will be requesting both pap & HPV test (the not so helpful Digene HC II) at my f/u in March. Thanks again for your information.