SEER Inquiry System - Question 20051079 Details

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SEER Inquiry System - Report

Produced: 03/04/2026 9:52 AM

Question 20051079

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Inquiry Details

References:

2007 SEER Manual, 3-4

Question:

Reportability/AmbiguousTerminology: Because there is a caveat in the SEER PCM, 3rd edition to ignore adverbs such as "strongly" when assessing reportability, should a term such as "likely" cancerous be reportable given than the expression "most likely" cancerous is reportable?

Discussion:

Answer:

"Likely cancerous" is NOT reportable.

The CoC, NPCR and SEER have agreed to a strict interpretation of the ambiguous terms list. Terms that do not appear on the list are not diagnostic of cancer.

History:

Prior to 1/1/2010

"Likely cancerous" is reportable. See the 2004 SEER Manual, page 4, note under 1.b. "Most likely" appears on the reportable list. "Likely" is a form of "Most likely."

Reference: 2004 SEER Manual pg 3-5

Cancer Site Category:

N/A

Data Item Category:

N/A

Other Category:

Ambiguous terminology, Reportability

Year:

2005