A CIN-111/CIS question

Ok.. I have been reading and learning. I have a question now. Are Cin-111 and CIS sometimes the some thing??? I have found a couple of websites that make it sound like some doctors consider CIN-111 Stage 0 cancer and they consider CIS the same thing.


Any insight on this would be great. I am going to make sure to ask my doc but didnt wanted to see what I could find out while waiting for my doctor appointment.

Thanks in advance,
Darlene

Hi Darlene,

I think that may have been the question that first brought me to this board 2 yrs ago. My dr had always talked in terms of "pre-cancer" and when I got my path report it said CIN3/CIS. Like you, I looked all over the web. I don't think I ever read that CIN3 is considered a cancer...only that it has a good potential for turning into an invasive cancer. CIS was usually described as Stage 0 cancer.

Here's a link that describes the stages of dysplasia:

Click Here

Hi, Darlene!

The way I understood my doctor (and my own reading) is that there is not a lot of difference between CIN III and CIS. In CIN III, most of the cells are considered to be abnormal in the involved area. In CIS, ALL of the cells in the involved area are considered to be abnormal. So, in CIN III, about 75%-90% of the cells are abnormal. It's not really a lot of difference.

CIS is considered by some to be stage 0 cancer, but the thing to remember is that it's not TRUE cancer--it has not yet invaded any of the cervical tissue, only the "skin" of the cervix. Very big difference.

Good luck, Darlene! Let us know how your appointment goes!

Hi Darlene
The way it was explained to me was that in CIN III the abnormal cells are still precancerous but the abnormalities involve more than one layer of cells. CIS cells are now cancer, but have not become invasive and are still contained within cervix.
Let us know what the doc says.