SEER Inquiry System - Question 20031017 Details

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SEER Inquiry System - Report

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Question 20031017

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Inquiry Details

References:

#1: SEER Program Code Man, 3rd Ed, 133

#2: 2004 SEER Manual, 182-183

Question:

Reason for No Surgery of Primary Site: Does code 2 [Contraindicated due to other conditions; autopsy only case] or code 1 [ Cancer-directed surgery not recommended] have priority when coding this field for extensive tumors not surgically treated because of existing comorbidities? See discussion.

Discussion:

Example:

Patient has Stage IVA carcinoma of the tongue. The physician states that patient is not felt to be a good surgical candidate secondary to multiple medical frailties. Patient is treated with beam radiation.

In this case, how do we code Reason for No Site Specific Surgery? Do we use code 2 because surgery was contraindicated due to co-existing medical conditions or do we use code 1 because the tumor is very extensive and surgery would probably not be done anyway?

Answer:

SEER has not established a priority for assigning the Reason for No Surgery of Primary Site codes. Assign the code which best describes the reason surgery was not performed.

Example: Assign code 2, Contraindicated due to patient risk factors. According to the physician, this is the reason that surgery was not performed.

Cancer Site Category:

N/A

Data Item Category:

Reason no treatment

Other Category:

N/A

Year:

2003