When you get a Pap smear, what is it testing for?

Question

TRUTH: Pap smears test for cervical cancer - NOT ovarian cancer. There is no test for ovarian cancer, so practicing Ovarian Self-Awareness is key to detecting ovarian cancer at early, non-life-threatening stages. 
1 in 75 women will be diagnosed with ovarian cancer. It is the deadliest gynecologic disease because symptoms are often confused with digestive or menstruation issues, leading to late stage diagnosis. But when identified early, the 5-year survival rate is greater than 92%! 
Visit www.BrightPink.org/OvarianSelfAware to learn more about ovarian cancer symptoms and about how family health history affects your personal risk of ovarian cancer.

Accepted Answer

As an ovarian cancer survivor I'm extremely disappointed in this post. You made this as a poll but then made the focus about ovarian cancer and looking for signs and symptoms, yet instead of taking this opportunity to list these and educate women on the app you just post a link. So I'll go ahead and post them on here anyways. Here are the signs and symptoms to watch, and always ALWAYS listen to your body!!!
Abdominal bloating, indigestion or nausea
Changes in appetite, such as a loss of appetite or feeling full sooner
Pressure in the pelvis or lower back
A more frequent or urgent need to urinate and/or constipation
Changes in bowel movements
Increased abdominal girth
Tiredness or low energy
Changes in menstruation
There is no known exact causes of ovarian cancer, but the likelihood of developing it may be higher if a woman has one or more ovarian risk factors. A key risk factor is age. Most women who develop ovarian cancer are diagnosed after menopause, at age 55 or older, though patients in their 40s and 50s have also been diagnosed with the disease. That being said, you can be diagnosed at any age, I was diagnosed at 23 and I know an 12 year who was diagnosed as well. Another key risk factor if if someone in your family has had a history with ovarian or breast cancer. Knowing family history is important for this and many other things. I urge everyone to go in and talk to your doctor. One last thing, ovarian cancer can be detected through certain tests, but not always and not one specific test. Mine was caught by having my CA125 levels checked. 
I urge everyone to talk to their female relatives if they can and especially to your doctor. Education is key in prevention. One thing I learned is that birth control can decrease your chance of getting Ovarian cancer and tumors/cysts as well.

Answer

Technically you cant get a smear test in UK till your 25. I had all signs and symptoms at age 22. No1 listened to me and I was ignored. Had a coloscopy at age 23 and it was a grade 2 on my cervix and told to come back if symptoms persist (ughh hello symptoms ars all the time) they said to come back after 1 year.. i pushed and pushed it back by about 8 months had another coloscopy and it had decreased a lot. They eventually took a smear to test for HPV. It came back negative for HPV but still changes to abnormal cells... So still being monitored... I want to give blood to NHS but because of my abnormal cells for a smear I cannot... My friend had her 1st one at 24 just before her 25th birthday was a grade 3 she had many cells removed which were high risk to cancer. If we can have them done earlier from say 18 or 21 etc.. It can be dealt with more easily and caught earlier... I am very disappointed in the NHS for this reason... People have died from it younger than 25 and it may cost the NHS less money for a smear rather than later for late treatment needed... 💪

Answer

Yearly pap smears ate performed as a way of early detection for cervical cancer. It is important to understand which type of pap smear your Provider is performing, as most MD's perform age based paps. If there are abnormal cervical changes found such as atypical squamous cells, low grade squamous intraepithelial lesions, high grade squamous intraepithelial lesions, or atypical granulated cells the lab will automatically run an HPV test if not already ordered. You may be considered a carrier of HPV if not positive for the high risk types. If positive for HPV genotypes, the types of HPV that put you at a higher risk for cervical cancer.. your Dr will then do further evaluation such as a colposcopy or LEEP procedure. I cannot stress enough whether you are 21, 31, or 41 the  importance of yearly paps. HPV is so common now a days. It is one of the most common STDs in which there is no treatment for.

Answer

there is actually a blood test for ovarian cancer

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I'm surprised at how many people don't know this

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a test carried out on a sample of cells from the cervix to check for abnormalities that may be indicative of cervical cancer

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There is a test for overian cancer or anything else with the body its called a petscan

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It tests for abnormal cells on your cervix so hpv

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Paps are for cervical cancer ONLY.

Answer

Pap smears can not detect ovarian cancer! My ovarian cancer was fount by CT.

When you get a Pap smear, what is it testing for?

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