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Report Produced: 11/17/2025 08:45 AM

Report Question ID Question Discussion Answer Year
20240039

Update to Current Manual/Race: For the Example #15 under Race Coding Examples in the 2024 SEER manual, could coding these as 97 result in an under-reporting of Native Hawaiians? See Discussion.

The race category in some hospital electronic medical record systems includes a combined category of “Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander.” What race code should be used in a situation where the only available information is “Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander?”

Change to current instructions. We will update this example in the next edition of the manual. The new example will instruct registrars to look for other descriptions of the patient’s race. When no other information is available, assign 07, Native Hawaiian, in Race 1 and assign 97, Pacific Islander, NOS in Race 2. Begin following this new instruction now.

 2024
20210045

Update to Current Manual/Neoadjuvant Treatment: What codes should be used for Neoadjuvant Therapy--Clinical Response and Neoadjuvant Therapy--Treatment Effect when the neoadjuvant therapy is still in progress at the time the case is initially abstracted as with rapid reporting. There is no code for neoadjuvant therapy still in progress and code 9 generates an edit for Neoadjuvant Therapy--Clinical Response.

Assign code 8 for Neoadjuvant Therapy--Clinical Response and assign a code 9 for Neoadjuvant Therapy--Treatment Effect when the treatment is still in progress. Revise these codes after the treatment has been completed.

We will update the manual to include these instructions.

 2021
20190033

Update to current manual/Neoadjuvant therapy/Pathologic tumor size--Breast: When a patient with invasive breast cancer is started on neoadjuvant therapy and at surgery is found to have only residual in-situ disease, do we record the size of the in-situ tumor for Pathologic Tumor Size? See Discussion.

I understand that we are to record the Clinical Tumor Size in Tumor Size Summary because of the neoadjuvant therapy, but the SEER manual does not address what to record in the Pathologic Tumor Size after neoadjuvant therapy. Would we record 999 or the size of the in-situ tumor in the Pathologic Tumor Size field? Will there ever be a new data item added or changes to this current data item? By recording the Patholigic Tumor Size this way, there currently will not be any way to compare tumor size clinically versus after neoadjuvant therapy and assessing the response.

Note: this is an update to the 2018 SEER manual.

Assign 999 in Pathologic Tumor Size when neoadjuvant therapy has been administered. We can explore the possibility of another data item in the future.

 2019
20210074

Update to Current Manual/Neoadjuvant Therapy--Pancreas:  How are the neoadjuvant items coded for a patient who has unresectable pancreatic cancer and starts chemotherapy but will be evaluated after X cycles to see if patient may become a surgical candidate?

Assign the neoadjuvant therapy data items as if the patient had neoadjuvant therapy.  Neoadjuvant Therapy data item would be coded either code 1 or 2 depending on whether the chemotherapy was completed or not. In this case, they are a surgical candidate by having the chemotherapy with the plan from the beginning to evaluate the chemotherapy after X cycles to see if surgery can be performed. After the patient is evaluated, update the abstract as needed.

 2021
20210017

Update to current manual/Mets at diagnosis fields--Lymphoma: Are distant metastases possible for a lymphoma with a primary site of lymph nodes? The instructions in the SEER manual tell us to assign code 8 in each of the Mets at Dx fields for a lymphoma originating in lymph nodes.

This is a correction to the SEER manual. Lymphomas originating in lymph nodes (C77) could have distant metastases to any site except lymph nodes. The following corrections to the manual apply now and will appear in the next version of the manual.

Remove C770-C779 from the instruction for assigning code 8 on the following pages.

Page 135 Mets at Dx--Bone

Page 137 Mets at Dx--Brain

Page 139 Mets at Dx--Liver

Page 141 Mets at Dx--Lung

Page 145 Mets at Dx--Other

Example

Biopsy of axillary lymph node: Diffuse Large B-Cell lymphoma. Lymph nodes involved above and below the diaphragm, multiple nodules seen in lung, lesions in liver. Bone marrow biopsy positive for DLBLC. Per Hematopoietic manual, primary site would be C778 for multiple lymph node regions involved.

Mets at Dx--Bone-0

Mets at Dx--Brain-0

Mets at Dx--Liver-1

Mets at Dx--Lung-1

Mets at Dx--Distant Lymph Nodes-8

Mets at Dx--Other-1

 2021
20210036

Update to current manual/Lymphovascular invasion: Are lymphvascular invasion and lymphvascular space invasion on a pathology report the same thing or do they describe different things?

We confirmed with our expert pathologist consultant that lymphovascular invasion and lymphovascular space invasion are synonymous.

 2021
20210035

Update to current manual/Lymphovacular invasion--Thyroid: Are psammoma bodies only recorded as vascular invasion in papillary thyroid cancer cases? See Discussion.

For example, total thyroidectomy specimen shows right lobe papillary thyroid carcinoma, 4.2 cm, unencapsulated, with numerous psammoma bodies in non-tumoral thyroid parenchyma, without angioinvasion; left lobe with papillary thyroid carcinoma, 0.6 cm, encapsulated, with capsular invasion, with intralymphatic psammoma bodies in non-tumoral thyroid parenchyma, without angioinvasion. The synoptic summary documents vascular invasion present (psammoma bodies only).

If you are collecting lymphovascular invasion (LVI) for thyroid cases, record "vascular invasion present (psammoma bodies only)" as vascular invasion (code 1, Lymphovascular Invasion Present/Identified) in the LVI data item. Use a text field to specify that this is vascular invasion by psammoma bodies.

 2021
20210038

Update to current manual/First course treatment--Neoadjuvant treatment: How are the 2021 neoadjuvant therapy fields coded when neoadjuvant therapy and surgery were part of first course plans but treatment was never completed. See Discussion.

Example: Breast case where first course treatment plan is neoadjuvant therapy and surgery after. The patient was hospitalized during neoadjuvant therapy, elected hospice, and later died, so the neoadjuvant therapy was never completed, surgery not done. How are the 2021 neoadjuvant therapy fields coded in this situation as neoadjuvant therapy and surgery were part of first course plans. I coded neoadjuvant therapy to 2 - started but not completed, but there are no codes to properly explain the clinical response and therapy treatment effect as the patient did not complete neoadjuvant therapy. Should I use code 9 for clinical response and treatment effect or should this be left blank for this particular case?

Assign code 8 for Neoadjuvant Therapy--Clinical Response in this case. We will update the SEER manual to allow code 2, in addition to code 1, in Neoadjuvant therapy when Clinical Response is coded 8. We will also add instructions covering a case such as this one.

Assign code 7 for Neoadjuvant Therapy--Treatment Effect and use text fields to record the details. We will add instructions to the manual for this scenario.

 2021
20190090

Update to current manual/EOD 2018/Summary Stage 2018--Fallopian Tube: How are behavior, EOD Primary Tumor, and Summary Stage 2018 coded for a diagnosis of serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma (STIC) of the fallopian tube? See Discussion.

The 2018 ICD-O-3 Histology Updates table lists serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma (C57.0) with a behavior code of 2.

The EOD Primary Tumor schema for Fallopian Tube shows STIC has an extension code of 100. It also maps code 100 to Summary Stage 2018 L (localized).

Summary Stage 2018 for fallopian tube only documents that intraepithelial tumors are summary stage 0 (in situ).

We are aware of the issue and have been in discussion with standard setters (SEER, NPCR, AJCC, and NAACCR). At this time, we recommend coding:

Histology: 8441/2

Extent of Disease (EOD) Primary Tumor: 000

Summary Stage: 0

AJCC Clin/Path T would be 88, since all in situ lesions are not applicable.

Edits will not allow you to have a 8441/2 with a T1. Also, EOD is not currently set up to derive the correct T value, unless you code 100.

The change to address the issue will take effect in 2021.

 2019
20190065

Update to current manual/EOD 2018/Summary Stage 2018--CLL/SLL: Can chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) be staged when diagnosed by peripheral blood and no bone marrow biopsy, and observation is employed? See Discussion.

The physicians do not use the Lugano system as we are instructed to stage chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma (CLL/SLL) as lymphomas. I had always been instructed that this qualifies as "bone marrow involvement," or "diffuse disease," and therefore is a Stage IV. Our experts advise that there is not enough information to code it to bone marrow, but do not elaborate as to whether you can actually code Extent of Disease (EOD), SEER Summary Stage, and AJCC Staging?

For EOD and Summary Stage: Peripheral blood involvement for CLL (or any lymphoma-but most commonly for CLL) can be coded. This is code 800 for 2018 EOD Primary Tumor, and code 7 for Summary Stage 2018. We have recently received confirmation that peripheral blood involvement only is not enough information to assign AJCC stage; assign code 99 for AJCC Stage Group. We will correct in the 2021 release of EOD so that peripheral blood involvement only will have its own code to derive the appropriate AJCC TNM Stage Group (99).

 2019