Atypical Squamous Cells (ASC) of the Cervix
Atypical squamous cells (ASC) are abnormal cells found on a Pap test, but the reason for the abnormalities is not known. The causes of ASC include infection or inflammation.
ASC is further classified as:
Screening Benefit According to Age
Cervical cancer mortality, usually occurring among unscreened women, increases with age, with the maximum mortality for white women between the ages of 45 and 70 years and for black women in the 70s.[1,2] (Also available online.) Mortality among women with negative Papanicolaou (Pap) screening is low at all ages. Screening by Pap testing with associated diagnostic testing and treatment is effective in reducing the incidence of all histologies and stages of invasive cervical cancer.[3] The benefit...
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- ASC of undetermined significance (ASC-US).
- ASC but cannot exclude high-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (HSIL) (ASC-H).
If you have ASC-US abnormalities, your health professional will probably recommend watchful waiting or human papillomavirus (HPV) testing. ASC-H abnormalities have a higher risk of being identified as more severe changes and are evaluated with colposcopy.
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