How is cervical cancer diagnosed?

How is cervical cancer diagnosed?

Cervical cancer develops slowly and over many years. Before turning to cancer, the cells in your cervix go through a lot of changes. The once normal cells in your cervix start to appear irregular or abnormal. These abnormal cells may go away, stay the same or turn into cancer cells.

Regular gynecological screenings with a Pap test can detect most cases of cervical cancer. A Pap test, or Pap smear, is a test that collects cells from your cervix. These cells are examined for signs of precancers or other irregularities.

If your Pap comes back as abnormal, further testing is necessary. This could include an HPV test, which is a specific test that checks the cells of your cervix for HPV infection. Certain types of HPV infection are linked to cervical cancer.

Your healthcare provider may also examine your cervix and take a sample of tissue for a biopsy if they suspect you have cancer. There are many techniques that can be used to obtain the tissue, like punch biopsy or endocervical curettage. In other cases, a wire loop or conization are used to gather tissues from the cervix for biopsy.

If the biopsy confirms cancer, further tests will determine whether the disease has spread (metastasized). These tests might include:

• Liver and kidney function studies.
• Blood and urine tests.
• X-rays of your bladder, rectum, bowels and abdominal cavity.

This process is called staging.