• About Pap tests or Pap smears
• Who should have Pap tests or Pap smears?
• The human papillomavirus (HPV)
• The cervical cancer vaccine
• Abnormal Pap test (or Pap smear) results and treatment
• Unsatisfactory result
• Low-grade changes
• High-grade changes
• Colposcopy
• Biopsy
• Treatments for high-grade changes
• Pap tests after treatment
• Questions to ask about treatment
• Risks associated with treatment
• Cervical cancer

Pap tests after treatment

Studies show that even after women have been successfully treated for a high-grade change, they remain at a slightly higher risk of cervical cancer than women who have never had an abnormality.

Because of this higher risk, it was until recently recommended that these women have annual Pap tests for the rest of their lives.

However, it is now recommended that women who have received treatment for a high-grade abnormality have the six tests listed below over a two-year interval after the treatment. If these six tests are normal, it is recommended that women return to the usual two-year screening interval. The six tests are:

4 to 6 months after treatment	Pap test and colposcopy
12 months after treatment	Pap test and HPV test
24 months after treatment	Pap test and HPV test

 

print this page

Email this page