Had my 2nd HRA at my clinic. . The doctor called and said my diagnosis was ASCUS.. which is aytpical squamos cells of undetermined significance .. This is my 2nd yearly HRa with this diagnosis.. The doc says that after 3 years with a ASCUS diagnosis the risk is very very low and even now 95% of people will not go on to high grade.. MY question is what do I do now? nothing? go to another specialist? I called back my Clinic and told them to tell the Doctor to send the specimen to another pathologist for a second opinion. I haven't gotten his response to this request as it was just 30 minutes ago.. He just wants to do another HRA in 1 year.. Should I be nervous? I know the doc isn't alarmed because last year he didn't even tell me I had a ASCUS diagnosis.or he might have said no real problem.. just watchful waiting... Any ideas?? thanks.. luke

Hi Luke, Anal cancer screening is a complicated area for which I am definitely NOT an expert. The people caring for you have an enormous amount of experience and are very current as to the state-of-the-art in this field. The reason it is complex and their expertise is so important is that we don't have a great deal of data telling us the best way to react to the various findings. I would suspect the pathology review is not as complicated as the management issues. I would encourage you to talk to your provider about this and ask them for references to reading material related to this topic. Of course you can also always ask them for a referral to another expert in the field for a second opinion.

I hope this helps and apologize that I do not have more expertise in this area.

Best, Eric