Cervical Cancer
Alternate Names : Cancer - Cervix
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Cervical Cancer Diagnosis & Tests
Invasive cervical cancer often appears as an irregular fleshy growth, often firm or hard, that tends to bleed easily. But even on pelvic examination by a doctor, pre-cancers and even early cancers of the cervix are often not visible to the naked eye. Special tests are necessary to diagnose cervical pre-cancers and cancers:
- Pap smears screen for -- but do not diagnose -- cervical pre-cancers and cancers
- Pap smears that are collected or read by special methods (ThinPrep, AutoPap, PapNet) are now available that can be useful in certain situations or in laboratories for quality control
- Colposcopy is an examination of the cervix under magnification in order to locate an abnormality of the cervix
- Biopsy, colposcopy, or sometimes the use of LASER (a loop electrode) or other instrument allows a diagnosis to be made
- When cervical cancer is found, additional tests -- such as X-rays, using an instrument to look into the bladder (cystoscopy), and rectum and colon (colonoscopy) -- are used to determine how far the cancer has spread and what stage the disease is in
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