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SEER Inquiry System - Report
Produced: 03/19/2026 8:30 AM
Question 20180108
Inquiry Details
References:
Solid Tumor Rules. Lung, 10/12/2018
Question:
Solid Tumor Rules (2018)/Histology--Lung: What is the correct histology of a lung mass with a CT-directed fine needle aspirate "positive for malignancy, favor squamous cell carcinoma. See Discussion.
Discussion:
Immunostain results of the malignant cells show strong staining with p63 and negative staining with TTF-1 and Napsin. Rare cells stain with CK7. Findings are most compatible with squamous cell carcinoma. The patient is treated as if he has squamous cell carcinoma. The new histology coding rules say you cannot use ambiguous terms which modify the histology to code the histology. So is this 8010/3?
Answer:
Code histology to SCC.
The lung rules were updated 10/12/2018 to include clarification on using ambiguous terminology to code histology. See page 32.
Note 2: Histology described by ambiguous terminology is coded when a case is
* Clinically confirmed by a physician (attending, pathologist, oncologist, pulmonologist, etc.)
* Patient is treated for the histology described by an ambiguous term
Your case meets both of these criteria so code histology to SCC.
