What does displasia or carcinoma-in-situ (CIN III) mean?

Hi, I'm 44 years old and recently I have had a Pap test taken. It was a standard procedure that I have to take every 6 months. I never had any problems with it nor any positive results and the gynecologist would usually tell me that everything is ok right after the surgery. Now he said that I could have cervical cancer and wrote on my discharge paper a diagnosis “displasia, carcinoma in situ (CIN III)” Does anyone know what that means and how serious it is?

The term displasia means abnormal cellular growth and “carcinoma in situ” means that there is a development of precancerous cells in the outer layer of the cervix, CIN III is a designation used to mark the level of displasia, level III is the highest, that means that there is a serious displasia going on. You have a potentially dangerous situation with possible cancer developing and if left untreated it could cause you to get cancer. You should be aware of that fact, but the statistics show that cervical carcinoma in situ, even with CIN III has over 90 % chances of being cured. The methods used to treat your condition are laser surgery or cryotherapy. After being treated with those procedures there is 99% chance that you will be cured. Of course this is valid only if cancer is detected and treated in an early stage. You should consult your doctor for further treatment of this disease.

I was treated for CIN grade III some years ago. However, I have not kept up my annual colposcopy's and am now too terrified to do anything about them. I am wondering whether or not the cancer has gone through the so called transformation zone and whether I have full blown cervical cancer or not?