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SEER Inquiry System - Report
Produced: 10/30/2025 10:10 PM
Question 20021181
Inquiry Details
References:
Question:
Radiation/Chemotherapy: How do we code radiation and chemotherapy when the only statement we have is that the patient is "referred to either an oncologist or a radiation therapist"?
Discussion:
Answer:
For cases diagnosed 1/1/2003 and after: A referral does not mean that the radiation therapy or chemotherapy was actually recommended. These cases need follow-back to see if treatment was recommended and/or administered. Some registries code these cases as 8 [Radiation recommended, unknown if administered] or 88 [Chemotherapy recommended, unknown if it was administered] and routinely review all cases with 8 or 88 codes. Upon review, the codes are updated depending on the information found. If there is no information available, the code 8 or 88 is changed to 0 or 00 [None].
History:
For cases diagnosed prior to 2003: Cases coded using the SEER Program Code Manual 3rd Edition one digit chemotherapy codes must be converted to the two-digit scheme in Revision 1. Codes 82, 85, and 86 are invalid for cases diagnosed prior to 1/1/2003.
Cancer Site Category:
N/A
Data Item Category:
Radiation Therapy, Chemotherapy
Other Category:
N/A
Year:
2002
