The results of a recent clinical trial are particularly relevant to your questions, as follows (NCI Press Release, 2001):

"For the current study, the investigators analyzed the ALTS data from women who had been referred to colposcopy when they enrolled in the trial. The colposcopy results were compared to the results of HPV tests that patients also had on enrollment. The colposcopy results showed that about 5 percent to 10 percent of women with ASCUS had precancer or cancer and that, of these women, 96.3 percent had a positive HPV test. As a corollary, 99.5 percent of women with a negative HPV test did not have precancer or cancer.

The investigators conclude that HPV testing can help in deciding what to do about ASCUS. "A positive test suggests that precancer or, rarely, cancer may be present -- we found precancers in 10 percent to 20 percent of ASCUS cases in which the HPV test was positive," said NCI's co-principal investigator, Mark Schiffman, M.D. "A negative test provides strong reassurance that precancer or cancer is not present."

About 55 percent of women with ASCUS would have been referred to colposcopy if the HPV test had been used for triage in all cases. Thus, HPV testing reduced referrals to colposcopy by about a half compared to immediate colposcopy."


I hope that the results of your next Pap will be favorable.


Sincerely/ Robert A. Wascher, MD, FACS

http://doctorwascher.com

Here is my story. I got genital warts from an ex girlfriend 2 years back and tested for hpv 14. I eventually got them removed by a surgeon and I also used aldara and papitrol to treat my hpv case and it tooks 6 days for a large cluster of small warts to fade. Thank god for these two products, what a miracle! Aldara is derived from a plant and is a cream... Papitrol is an herbal supplement that helps your immune system while you are fighting off the virus. I highly advise using both treatments with whatever else you are getting done (surgery, diet)... Finally there is a way to beat hpv.