SEER Inquiry System - Question 20010042 Details

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Produced: 02/04/2026 11:41 PM

Question 20010042

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Inquiry Details

References:

#1: SEER Program Code Man, 3rd Ed, 104

#2: 2004 SEER Manual, 97

Question:

Grade, Differentiation--Bone Marrow: Can we use the AJCC Cancer Staging Manual, which lists myeloma as a B cell neoplasm under non-Hodgkin lymphomas, to code Grade, Differentiation field for myeloma to B-cell (code 6)?

Discussion:

Answer:

For cases diagnosed prior to 1/1/2010:

No. Myeloma is a malignancy of plasma cells. Plasma cells are the daughters of B cells. So technically it would be correct to call them B cell, but that is not common usage.

Cell marker (phenotype) should be coded in the Grade, Differentiation field for only leukemias and lymphomas, as classified in the ICD-O-3. In the ICD-O-3, myeloma is listed under Plasma Cell Tumors, not Lymphomas. When a cell marker is coded for a leukemia/lymphoma it should be coded only from pathology and/or cytology reports.

For cases diagnosed 2010 forward, refer to the Hematopoietic and Lymphoid Neoplasm Case Reportability and Coding Manual and the Hematopoietic Database (Hematopoietic DB) provided by SEER on its website to research your question. If those resources do not adequately address your issue, submit a new question to SINQ.

Cancer Site Category:

Lymphoma

Data Item Category:

N/A

Other Category:

N/A

Year:

2001