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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Could The Stage IV Cancer Detected In Pap Smear Be Wrong?

My 74 year old mother was diagnosed with cervical cancer this past spring. Although she had no symptoms, the diagnosis was via an irregular pap smear. Doctors thought that it was an early prognosis, scheduled a surgery for August 8th. During the surgery, they discovered the cancer was higher than they predicted, and determined it is stage IV. Does this type of mistake/misdiagnosis occur regularly? Is it hard to determine the stage of cervical cancer?
Thu, 28 Aug 2014
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Radiologist,  's  Response
Hi,
Thanks for writing in.

Sometimes a cancer first noticed in pap smear can already have spread locally and still remain undiagnosed as it has happened with your mother. Usually such incidents are more prone to happen if the duration between diagnosis and definitive treatment or surgery is longer than a few months. In stage 4 disease the cancer is stuck to nearby structures making it difficult to operate without risks of worsening the course of illness and that is the reason they chose not to operate. This kind of situation does not occur regularly.
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Could The Stage IV Cancer Detected In Pap Smear Be Wrong?

Hi, Thanks for writing in. Sometimes a cancer first noticed in pap smear can already have spread locally and still remain undiagnosed as it has happened with your mother. Usually such incidents are more prone to happen if the duration between diagnosis and definitive treatment or surgery is longer than a few months. In stage 4 disease the cancer is stuck to nearby structures making it difficult to operate without risks of worsening the course of illness and that is the reason they chose not to operate. This kind of situation does not occur regularly.