Although cancer of the cervix is the 7th most common cancer among women in Singapore, they are largely preventable by screening with the Pap smear. A Pap smear is a painless and simple test to check for changes in the cells of your cervix which could develop into cancer later. If pre-cancerous changes are detected, treatment of the cervix at this stage can prevent cancer of the cervix from occurring. Do not be unduly alarmed if your Pap smear result is abnormal. Not all abnormal results mean cancer. Most are not. But you would need further tests to determine the seriousness of the abnormal changes detected on the Pap smear.