An official website of the United States government
Home
SEER Inquiry System - Report
Produced: 11/07/2025 10:24 PM
Question 20100033
Inquiry Details
References:
Heme & Lymph Manual & DB
Question:
Histology--Heme & Lymphoid Neoplasms: How is this field coded for a case described as follicular lymphoma, grade 3a/3 [9698/3], with focal areas of diffuse large B cell lymphoma [9680/3] (approximately 10%)? Does the term "focal" have the same significance in Heme cases as it does for solid tumors? See Discussion.
Discussion:
Per rule PH11, "Code the primary site to the site of origin (lymph node region(s), tissue, or organ) and code the histology diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) (9680/3) when DLBCL and any other non-Hodgkin lymphoma are present in the same lymph node(s), lymph node region(s), organ(s), tissue(s) or bone marrow."
Should the focal diffuse large B cell lymphoma be ignored in this case and rule PH11 not be applied? To apply rule PH11, does the follicular lymphoma have to be NOS [9690/3] or does PH11 include all grades of follicular lymphoma [9695/3, 9691/3, 9698/3]?
Answer:
For cases diagnosed 2010 and forward, access the Hematopoietic Database at http://seer.cancer.gov/seertools/hemelymph.
First, you need to determine how many primaries are to be accessioned. Per Rule M4, abstract a single primary* when two or more types of non-Hodgkin lymphoma are simultaneously present in the same anatomic location(s), such as the same lymph node or lymph node region(s), the same organ(s), and/or the same tissue(s).
Code the histology to 9680/3 [Diffuse large B cell lymphoma] per rule PH11 when DLBCL and any other non-Hodgkin lymphoma are present in the same lymph node(s), lymph node region(s), organ(s), tissue(s) or bone marrow. Follicular lymphoma (FL), which is a non-Hodgkin lymphoma, includes FL, NOS, FL grade 1, FL grade 2 and FL grade 3.
Focal, foci, and focus are not used in the hematopoietic rules, meaning that you DO NOT ignore histology terms described as focal, foci, or focus.
SEER*Educate provides training on how to use the Heme Manual and DB. If you are unsure how to arrive at the answer in this SINQ question, refer to SEER*Educate to practice coding hematopoietic and lymphoid neoplasms. Review the step-by-step instructions provided for each case scenario to learn how to use the application and manual to arrive at the answer provided. https://educate.fhcrc.org/LandingPage.aspx.
History:
This SINQ question has been updated to the Heme & Lymph Neo Manual & DB published January 2014
The original answer below was written based on the rules in 2010.
For cases diagnosed 2010-2011, code the histology 9680/3 [Diffuse large B cell lymphoma] using rule PH16. Follicular lymphoma (FL) includes FL, NOS, FL grade 1, FL grade 2 and FL grade 3. Focal, foci, and focus are not used in the 2010 hematopoietic rules, meaning that you DO NOT ignore histology terms described as focal, foci, or focus.
The answers for SINQ questions with 2010 ID numbers were written using the 2010 Heme & Lymph Manual & DB. The instructions for using the 2010 Hematopoietic Database were written for the version of the software in use as of 5/24/2011. The user interface of the web-based 2010 Hematopoietic Database available from the SEER website varies slightly from the 5/24/2011 version in that the web-based version provides all the disease information in one scrollable window.
For cases diagnosed 2010-2011, access the 2010 Hematopoietic Database at http://seer.cancer.gov/tools/heme/. Click on Hematopoietic Project. Click on Hematopoietic and Lymphoid Database. For 2010-2011 diagnoses, click on the "use the 2010 database" label in the upper right corner of the screen. The 2010 Hematopoietic Coding Manual (PDF) button will appear to indicate the correct version of the program is available now for query.
Below is the original discussion. The discussion was changed to reflect the changes in the rules published in January 2014.
Per rule PH16, �Code the primary site to the site of origin (lymph node region(s), tissue, or organ) and code the histology diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) (9680/3) when DLBCL (9680/3) and follicular lymphoma (9690/3) are present in the same lymph node(s), tissue, or organ.� Should the focal diffuse large B cell lymphoma be ignored in this case and rule PH16 not be applied? To apply rule PH16, does the follicular lymphoma have to be NOS [9690/3] or does PH16 include all grades of follicular lymphoma [9695/3, 9691/3, 9698/3]?
