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SEER Inquiry System - Report
Produced: 09/10/2025 4:15 AM
Question 20021200
Inquiry Details
References:
#1: SEER Program Code Man, 3rd Ed, 88
#2: 2004 SEER Manual, 65-67
Question:
Date of Diagnosis: How do you code this field when the pathologic confirmation is delayed for 2 months because the clinician decides to "watch and see what happens" to a CT identified mass thought to be either a "metastasis from a previously diagnosed malignancy or a new primary"?
Discussion:
Answer:
Code the Date of Diagnosis field to the date of the scan. This is the earliest date that a recognized medical practitioner said the patient had cancer. The diagnosis on the CT scan was a malignancy. The only question was whether the mass on the scan was metastatic or a primary.
Cancer Site Category:
N/A
Data Item Category:
Date of diagnosis
Other Category:
N/A
Year:
2002
