Hi,
I am looking for a bit of guidance.
I had CIN 2 about 12 years ago and was treated successfully for this.
This year I was found to have CIN 2 on smear but when I had the treatment for that episode I was found to have Cin3 with changes to the cells further up the cervix.
I have had a further treatment today however I was advised that if the margins were not clear it is unlikely that I would be offered lletz again as I had now had it 3 times and that I would be looking at a hysterectomy.
The colposcopist was keen to emphasise that the cells were CIN3 not cancer but in the same breath said that it is likely this would be the preferred treatment.
Can I ask is there anyone else who has had more that 3 lletz treatments, and indeed is hysterectomy always the next step?
Thanks in advance
Hi cold feet and welcome to our group.
I’ve not had any LLETZ treatments myself as I went straight to a cancer diagnosis, but I am aware that you cannot normally have more than 3 LLETZ treatments as there wouldn’t be enough of your cervix left after multiple treatments -some is removed each time to get rid of the CIN. I’ve not personally read in the group of anyone having more than 3 treatments, so I’m not sure you will find others here in the same situation.
CIN3 is the highest level of abnormal cells, so while it is not cancer, there is a danger of the cells becoming cancer in time if not treated. The hope is that this treatment will obtain clear margins with all the cells removed, but if there are not clear margins, this means that any cells remaining could turn cancerous. The higher up the cervical canal, the more risk there is of not all the cells being identified and removed, as they can “hide” up there.
For persistent CIN3 with no clear margins after treatment, then the normal preferred treatment would be a hysterectomy. I can understand that this might seem a drastic solution, but it would be safer than leaving the abnormal cells to develop further. While it is said that CIN3 would potentially take a long time to develop into cancer, this is not always the case. From talking to others, I am not the only person who I know who was diagnosed with cancer without going through the CIN stages, and I had adenocarcinoma which develops higher up in the cervical canal and can be missed on a smear.
Hopefully you would get clear margins from the LLETZ, but if not, you would need to think about the cancer risk if you don’t have the surgery if it’s recommended. You cannot have treatment for the hpv virus as it cannot be “cured”- you can only have abnormal cells removed-and I am not aware there is anything other than a hysterectomy if the cells remain after multiple LLETZ treatments.
I hope you’ll let us know how you get on when you get your results and you’re not faced with a hysterectomy, as I’m sure that would be a difficult decision to make, but it’s honestly better than having cancer-especially in a case like my own where it was too advanced to be able to have a hysterectomy when I was diagnosed.
Sarah xx
