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My path report said they found a lesion high in the cervix. In one place it said Final dx "Carcinoma in Situ" and in another place it said "CIN3". My GYN/ONC told me pre-cancer. I'm confused because I see CIN3 defined as Pre-cancer, and CIS as cancer when I research on the net. Can you help me understand whether I had a cancer or a pre-cancer? Thanks.
Fredric V. Price, MD:
There has long been a great deal of confusion in the medical literature about the way to describe problems like yours: pre-invasive diseases of the cervix. This does not mean that there are different problems, just different ways of saying the same thing: you do not have cancer. There is a natural boundary in the tissue of the cervix that separates cancer from non-cancer. If the abnormal cells extend to this boundary but not beyond it, it is called "carcinoma in situ." The abnormal cells have not invaded into the deep tissues of the cervix, and therefore are considered "pre-cancer." Sometimes pathologists looking at cell types under the microscope will try to make a distinction between "cervical intraepithelial neoplasia, grade 3" (on your report abbreviated "CIN 3") and "carcinoma in situ" (CIS). From your point of view, these should be considered not cancer. This abnormality should be removed to prevent progression to cancer, but it is not likely to happen for many years, if at all. The internet sources you refer to may have confused the terminology or may have been taken out of context. To make matters more confusing, sometimes CIS is called Stage 0 cancer. Suffice it to say that this is not truly cancer and can be treated with conservative surgery.
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What is the difference between cervical carcinoma in situ and CIN3 -- is one cancer and one precancer?