This initiative involves a multilevel review process, including pathologists and tumor registrars, of standards for tumor site-morphology combinations, terminology, and coding. These standards (valid, unlikely, and impossible) will be the source of information for the 2024 Cancer PathCHART ICD-O-3 Site Morphology Validation List and the NAACCR site/type edits, which will be freely available to cancer registration software vendors and any other end users in easily consumed, computer-readable formats (e.g., XLSX, CSV, XML, JSON).

Review Process
review process

The aim of this multilevel review process is to assign one of the Cancer PathCHART (CPC) designations: Valid, Unlikely, or Impossible, to all site-morphology combinations.

The first review is by a SEER*ClinCORE subspecialty pathologist. The second level of independent review is performed in parallel by 2 to 3 subject matter expert pathologists. Any discrepancies in designations are resolved in a consensus meeting where pathologists and cancer registrars participate.

The following cancer registrars' review focuses on discovering potential conflicts between the CPC designations and other sources used by cancer registrars. Discrepancies are resolved in a consensus meeting with cancer registrars and the SEER*ClinCORE pathologist.