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Risks
By Mayo Clinic staffA Pap smear is a safe way to screen for cervical cancer. However, a Pap smear isn't foolproof. It's possible to receive false-negative results — meaning that the test indicates no abnormality, even though you do have abnormal cells.
Estimates for the occurrence of false-negative results with a conventional Pap smear vary widely but are at least 5 percent — or one in every 20 women. The liquid-based Pap test, in which the sample of cells is preserved in liquid rather than smeared on a microscope slide, provides fewer false-negative results. With either test, false-positive results — when the test indicates an abnormality when there really isn't one — are extremely rare.
A false-negative result doesn't mean that a mistake was made. Many factors can cause a false-negative result, including:
- An inadequate collection of cells
- A small number of abnormal cells
- An inaccessible location of the lesion
- A small lesion
- Abnormal cells mimicking benign cells
- Blood or inflammatory cells obscuring the abnormal cells
Although it's possible for abnormal cells to go undetected, time is on your side. Cervical cancer takes several years to develop. And if one test doesn't detect the abnormal cells, the next test most likely will.
