Hi all…
I had an abnormal smear last month and a colposcopy and loop procedure 3 weeks ago confirmed high grade CIN3 as well as stage 1A1 cancer cells 2mm deep…
I was told I’d need an op under general anaesthetic (booked for next week) to have another loop done (is this the same as a cone biopsy??) to remove the remaining cancer cells…
I guess I’m confused about 2 things… 1) most kings I’ve read say that with cancer, even if it’s just stage 1a1, they go straight to hysterectomy… Obviously I’m glad they didn’t tell me this (I’m 28 with a one year old girl and we’d like more one day) but I’m not sure why this is all I’ve read about for stage 1… Is just having another cone biopsy going to be enough?
And 2… Can I ask what unclear margins actually means? Is that linked to the 2mm they talked about?
I also got an infection from my first loop sadly… Passing lots of blood and some clots even bough I refrained from everything they said… Is it likely to get infected this time too?
Thanks in advance xx
Hello sorry to hear of your diagnosis, I had the same in January 2015 and am now 18 months clear. Do you know if it's adeno or squamous cell cancer you have? Mine was squamous and after the lletz discovered the cancer I was just given the cone biopsy which came back clear and all colposcopies and smears have been clear since. I have 2 children and don't want anymore but I was only ever offered the cone biopsy, I think maybe it depends the cell type of cancer, position and even different hospitals seem to do things differently but as long as it's 1a1 and contained I think they will offer fertility preserving treatments like the cone biopsy. As for the infection I got one after my first lletz that was done in the colposcopy clinic under local anaesthetic, my cone biopsy was done in theatre under general anaesthetic and I was fine after that, I imagine everything is alot cleaner and more sterile in theatre maybe that helped I don't know. My gp did say when I got the infection after 1st lletz though it's very common even though we follow all the advice. All the best to you and I hope they get it all sorted quickly for you xxx
Hi there
It is incredibly common for them to treat 1a1 with a second Lletz or a cone. They are simply after getting clear margins. Clear margins bascially means that they remove the nasty cells and can clearly see that they are surrounded by healthy cells. This tells them that they have gotten the entire tumour. It's great news that they have found it so early! Rest assured as well, that they will watch you like a hawk after the procedure so you have no need to worry about that. (althogh we all still worry regardless!) Good luck with it all xxx
thank you so much for responding...
they haven't actually told me what type but did sound pretty confident this next cone biopsy would get it all so hopeful!
that makes sense about the infection too, thank you :-)
Thank you that makes sense thanks for explaining the margins to me!
Hi Amy :-)
Welcome to the forum :-) Sorry for your diagnosis but I am very glad that you have found us here. From now on keep well away from Google and ask all your questions on here. To the best of my knowledge treatments for early stage cervical cancer in order of severity, from least to most is this; LLETZ, Cone Biospy, Trachelectomy, Hysterectomy. If you are younger and your cancer type is squamous cell, you are likely to be treated with minimum force. If you are older, have completed your family and have adenocarcinoma (glandular cell), you are more likely to be treated with a hysterectomy.
I hope that helps :-)
Be lucky :-)
Tivoli
