Inadequate Pap Tests More Likely With Transgender Men
Pap Smear Wikimedia Commons, National Cancer Institute A new study published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine found that female-to-male (FTM) transgender patients were 10 times more likely to have an inadequate Pap test than female patients. FTM transgender people, also known as transgender men, identify as male and were born with female reproductive organs. Many of these individuals eventually undergo complete sex reassignment surgery (also known as gender confirmation surgery), which removes the uterus and cervix. But in the years before they undergo that procedure, they are vulnerable to cervical cancer, and regular diagnostic Pap tests are indicated. Pap smears take a sample of secretions and cells from the cervix and are used to detect cervical cancer or precancerous changes. Inadequate Pap tests can't be evaluated due to a lack of sufficient cells or because of obscuring blood...