A woman who receives regular Pap tests that come back “normal” is going to be shocked by a cancer misdiagnosis, but it does happen.

The Pap test, also known as a Pap smear, undoubtedly saves thousands of lives each year. Pre-cancerous cells often are caught and eliminated through treatment before actual cancer takes root.

Women have relied upon the Pap test to protect them from cervical cancer for years. Why would anyone worry about a cancer misdiagnosis?

Unlike many lab tests, the Pap smear relies upon human eyes to determine aberrations in cell structure. An overworked lab technician with tired eyes could miss cancerous or pre-cancerous cells. A Pap test reported as negative (normal) that truly contains pre-cancerous cells could lead to a cancer misdiagnosis for that patient.

A positive (abnormal) Pap test results in further tests to determine if actual cervical cancer or pre-cancer is present. Such diagnostic measures include a colposcopy with biopsy, endocervical scraping and cone biopsies to collect cervical tissue samples.

Women who need these additional tests done, but never receive them due to missed abnormal Pap smears, are at risk for a cancer misdiagnosis.

Pap Tests and Cervical Cancer

According to the American Cancer Society, approximately 13,240 new cases of invasive cervical cancer will be diagnosed in the United States this year. Nearly 4,200 women will die of cervical cancer.

While admitting the Pap smear is not perfect, the American Cancer Society does attribute the test to saving thousands of lives.

“One of the limitations of the Pap test is that the results need to be examined by the human eye, so an accurate analysis of the hundreds of thousands of cells in each sample is not always possible,” says the American Cancer Society.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says that nearly 17.4 million doctor office visits and almost 3.5 million hospital outpatient department visits ordered Pap tests in 2014. The possibility that a lab technician could miss a precancerous cell among all of those slides is not hard to imagine.

Florida Woman Experiences Cancer Misdiagnosis

A Florida woman died from cervical cancer in 2011 even though she received a Pap test in 2008. Cancer cells were missed in that Pap smear, and by the time she was diagnosed with cervical cancer, the disease had progressed.

The woman’s husband filed suit against the lab for failing to diagnose the cancer. In 2014, a jury found the lab was negligent and the woman’s family was awarded $15.8 million for her wrongful death.

Pap smears used to be recommended annually for all women from the age of 18 or when they became sexually active, whichever was first. New guidelines indicate women ages 21 through 29 have a Pap smear completed every three years. Women who are ages 30 to 65 should have a Pap test and an HPV test every five years.

If you were a victim of a cancer misdiagnosis after a misread Pap test, you could be eligible for compensation for your medical expenses, missed work, pain and suffering and more.