What is a Pap test?

The Pap test (sometimes called a Pap smear) is a way to examine cells collected from the cervix (the lower, narrow end of the uterus). The main purpose of the Pap test is to find abnormal cell changes that may arise from cervical cancer or before cancer develops.

How is a Pap test done?

A Pap test is simple, quick, and painless; it can be done in a doctor’s office, a clinic, or a hospital. While a woman lies on an exam table, the clinician inserts a speculum into her vagina to widen it. A sample of cells is taken from the cervix with a wooden scraper and/or a small cervical brush. The specimen (or smear) is placed on a glass slide and preserved with a fixative, or is rinsed in a vial of fixative, and is sent to a laboratory for examination.

What if Pap test results are abnormal?

If the Pap test shows a finding of ASC–H, LSIL, or HSIL, the physician may perform a colposcopy using an instrument much like a microscope (called a colposcope) to examine the vagina and the cervix. The colposcope does not enter the body. During a colposcopy, the physician may coat the cervix with a dilute vinegar solution that causes abnormal areas to turn white. The physician may also perform a biopsy (a biopsy is the removal of a small piece of tissue for study in a lab).

If the lab finds abnormal cells that have a high chance of becoming cancer, further treatment is needed. Without treatment, these cells may turn into invasive cancer. Treatment options include the following:

• LEEP (loop electrosurgical excision procedure) is surgery that uses an electrical current which is passed through a thin wire loop to act as a knife.
• Cryotherapy destroys abnormal tissue by freezing it.
• Laser therapy is the use of a narrow beam of intense light to destroy or remove abnormal cells.
• Conization removes a cone-shaped piece of tissue using a knife, a laser, or the LEEP technique.