The short answer
CIN stands for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. It describes abnormal cells found on the surface of the cervix when a biopsy is done. NCI says CIN 3 is not cancer but may become cancer if not treated. It is graded 1 to 3. NCI says CIN 1 usually goes away on its own and CIN 3 is severely abnormal. This page explains each grade and what to ask your care team.
NCI says CIN 3 is not cancer but may become cancer and spread to nearby normal tissue if not treated.
NCI says low-grade cervical changes are usually caused by HPV infection.
NCI says CIN 1 changes are mild and usually go away on their own.
NCI says CIN 2 is moderate and CIN 3 is severely abnormal. Ask your care team about your plan.
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This page is for anyone whose cervical biopsy report says CIN 1, CIN 2, or CIN 3. It explains what each grade means and what to ask your care team.
What CIN means
CIN stands for cervical intraepithelial neoplasia. NCI says CIN is the term for abnormal cells found on the surface of the cervix after a biopsy. NCI also describes abnormal cervical changes as dysplasia. Low-grade changes are usually caused by an HPV (human papillomavirus) infection.
CIN 3 is not cancer, NCI says, but it may become cancer and spread to nearby normal tissue if not treated.
The three grades
CIN is graded from 1 to 3, based on how abnormal the cells look and how much tissue is affected. NCI describes them this way:
- CIN 1: mild, or low grade. NCI says these changes usually go away on their own and do not require treatment.
- CIN 2: moderate. NCI says CIN 2 is typically treated by removing the abnormal cells, but it can sometimes go away on its own.
- CIN 3: severely abnormal. NCI says CIN 3 is not cancer, but it may become cancer and spread to nearby normal tissue if not treated. NCI says it should be treated right away.
CIN versus Pap test results
CIN comes from a biopsy, often taken during a colposcopy. Pap test results use different words, such as LSIL and HSIL. See What Do LSIL and HSIL Mean?.
Ask these before you leave
- What grade of CIN did my biopsy show?
- Do you recommend treatment or follow-up testing, and why?
- When is my next test?
Related pages
See What Does the Bethesda System Mean on a Pap Test? and What Does 'Dysplasia' Mean?.
Sources
Common questions
Is CIN cancer?
NCI says CIN 3 is not cancer, but it may become cancer and spread to nearby normal tissue if not treated. CIN is abnormal cells found on a cervical biopsy.
What causes CIN?
NCI says low-grade changes are usually caused by an HPV (human papillomavirus) infection.
Is CIN the same as cervical dysplasia?
NCI describes abnormal cervical cell changes as dysplasia. Ask your care team how your report words it.
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Sources last checked: 2026-10-02 what this meansLast updated: 2026-10-02Next planned review: 2027-09-27
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Cancer Explained does not originate medical claims. Every page restates guidance already published by the National Cancer Institute, the CDC, the USPSTF and the FDA, in plain language, with the source cited so you can check the original yourself. AI does the translating and organizing; automated checks test claims, citations, clarity and safety before anything publishes, and this is translation and navigation, not clinical judgment. Nothing here is personal medical advice, and no page can account for your particular situation.
Editorial status: Source checked — This page was written with AI assistance and then compared with the sources listed on it, looking for statements those sources do not back up. That check is not a sentence-by-sentence record and can miss errors. It is not a medical review, and it does not confirm the page is complete or right for your situation.
Human medical review: not completed. Pages here are not signed off by a clinician before they publish. That is not an oversight we are quietly working around: we restate published guidance and cite it, so the authority belongs to the source rather than to us, and every page names where its claims come from — you can verify us instead of trusting us. Where a volunteer clinician has reviewed a page, their name and credentials appear on it; where no name appears, no clinician has checked it. We are glad to have reviewers and are recruiting them, and we do not hold pages back waiting for one. Use this site to understand your situation and to ask better questions of the people treating you.
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