Do atypical cells usually mean cancer?

Answer From Tatnai Burnett, M.D.

On occasion you may see a report from a Pap test or tissue biopsy stating "atypical cells present." This might cause you to worry that this means cancer, but atypical cells aren't necessarily cancerous.

Many factors can make normal cells appear atypical, including inflammation and infection. Even normal aging can make cells appear abnormal.

Atypical cells can change back to normal cells if the underlying cause is removed or resolved. This can happen spontaneously. Or it can be the result of a specific treatment.

Atypical cells don't necessarily mean you have cancer. However, it's still important to make sure there's no cancer present or that a cancer isn't just starting to develop.

If your doctor identifies atypical cells, close follow-up is essential. In some cases, your doctor may simply monitor the atypical cells to make sure they don't become more abnormal. Other tests or scans may be useful, depending on your specific circumstances.

In other cases, your doctor may recommend a particular treatment to try to reverse the process that's causing the atypical cells. And sometimes, your doctor may need to obtain a sample of tissue — such as a biopsy — to make sure you don't have cancer or another serious condition.

With

Tatnai Burnett, M.D.

From Mayo Clinic to your inbox

Sign up for free and stay up to date on research advancements, health tips, current health topics, and expertise on managing health. Click here for an email preview.

To provide you with the most relevant and helpful information, and understand which information is beneficial, we may combine your email and website usage information with other information we have about you. If you are a Mayo Clinic patient, this could include protected health information. If we combine this information with your protected health information, we will treat all of that information as protected health information and will only use or disclose that information as set forth in our notice of privacy practices. You may opt-out of email communications at any time by clicking on the unsubscribe link in the e-mail.

Sept. 16, 2022 See more Expert Answers

See also

  1. Adjuvant therapy for cancer
  2. Alternative cancer treatments: 11 options to consider
  3. Biological therapy for cancer
  4. Biopsy procedures
  5. Blood Basics
  6. Bone marrow transplant
  7. Bone scan
  8. Cancer
  9. Cancer
  10. Cancer blood tests
  11. Myths about cancer causes
  12. Infographic: Cancer Clinical Trials Offer Many Benefits
  13. Cancer diagnosis: 11 tips for coping
  14. Cancer-related fatigue
  15. Cancer pain: Relief is possible
  16. Cancer-prevention strategies
  17. Cancer risk: What the numbers mean
  18. Cancer surgery
  19. Cancer survival rate
  20. Cancer survivors: Care for your body after treatment
  21. Cancer survivors: Late effects of cancer treatment
  22. Cancer survivors: Managing your emotions after cancer treatment
  23. Cancer survivorship program
  24. Cancer treatment
  25. Cancer treatment myths
  26. Cancer-related fatigue
  27. Cancer-related pain
  28. Cancer-related weakness
  29. Chemo targets
  30. Chemoembolization
  31. Chemotherapy
  32. Chemotherapy and hair loss: What to expect during treatment
  33. Chemotherapy and sex: Is sexual activity OK during treatment?
  34. Chemotherapy nausea and vomiting: Prevention is best defense
  35. Chemotherapy side effects: A cause of heart disease?
  36. Complete blood count (CBC)
  37. Cough
  38. CT scan
  39. Curcumin: Can it slow cancer growth?
  40. Cancer-related diarrhea
  41. Eating during cancer treatment: Tips to make food tastier
  42. Fatigue
  43. Fertility preservation
  44. Heart cancer: Is there such a thing?
  45. High-dose vitamin C: Can it kill cancer cells?
  46. Honey: An effective cough remedy?
  47. Infographic: CAR-T Cell Therapy
  48. Intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT)
  49. Intrathecal chemotherapy
  50. Joint pain
  51. Low blood counts
  52. Magic mouthwash
  53. Medical marijuana
  54. Microwave ablation for cancer
  55. Mindfulness exercises
  56. Minimally invasive cancer surgery
  57. Monoclonal antibody drugs
  58. Mort Crim and Cancer
  59. Mouth sores caused by cancer treatment: How to cope
  60. MRI
  61. Muscle pain
  62. Needle biopsy
  63. Night sweats
  64. No appetite? How to get nutrition during cancer treatment
  65. Palliative care
  66. PALS (Pets Are Loving Support)
  67. Pelvic exenteration
  68. PET/MRI scan
  69. Precision medicine for cancer
  70. Radiation therapy
  71. Seeing inside the heart with MRI
  72. Self-Image During Cancer
  73. Sentinel lymph node mapping
  74. Sisters' Bone Marrow Transplant
  75. Sleep tips
  76. Small cell, large cell cancer: What this means
  77. Stem Cells 101
  78. Stem cells: What they are and what they do
  79. Surgical biopsy
  80. Tumor vs. cyst: What's the difference?
  81. TVEC (Talimogene laherparepvec) injection
  82. Ultrasound
  83. Unexplained weight loss
  84. Stem cell transplant
  85. How cancer spreads
  86. MRI
  87. PICC line placement
  88. When cancer returns: How to cope with cancer recurrence
  89. Wide local skin excision
  90. X-ray