An official website of the United States government
Government Funding Lapse
Because of a lapse in government funding, the information on this website may not be up to date, transactions submitted via the website may not be processed, and the agency may not be able to respond to inquiries until appropriations are enacted. The NIH Clinical Center (the research hospital of NIH) is open. For more details about its operating status, please visit cc.nih.gov. Updates regarding government operating status and resumption of normal operations can be found at OPM.gov.
Grade--Heme & Lymphoid Neoplasms: How is grade coded for a malignant non-Hodgkin lymphoma, large B-cell type, with features consistent with T-cell rich variant?
Code grade to 6 [B-cell] for the histology malignant non-Hodgkin lymphoma, large B-cell type, with features consistent with T-cell rich variant [9680/3]. Under the Definition section for histology code 9680/3 it states there are morphologic variants of the disease: centroblastic, immunoblastic, plasmablastic, T-cell/histiocyte-rich, anaplastic.
Rule G3 in the Heme Manual confirms the grade listed in the Heme DB under its Grade section for the histology 9680/3. While the patient presented with a variant of DLBCL that is T-cell/histiocyte rich, it is still a B-cell phenotype. The grade is coded accordingly.
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.
2024 SEER Manual/Primary Site--Breast: Is Primary Site coded as C504 or C501 based on the Solid Tumor Rules and the SEER Manual Breast Coding Guidelines? The pathology report reads "Right Breast 10:00 1 cm from the nipple."
Codes C502-C505 take priority over code C501. The description for C501 in the Solid Tumor Rules has "Area extending 1 cm around areolar complex."
Assign Primary Site code C504 based on the location in the upper outer quadrant of the right breast, 10 o’clock, as opposed to code C501, around the areolar complex. The 2024 SEER Manual Breast Coding Guidelines advise that C502 - C505 are generally preferred over C501 when there is no other way to determine the subsite.
This is a single primary per Rule M2 which indicates to abstract a single primary when there is a single histology. Code the histology to 9590/3 [lymphoma] and the primary site to C629 [testes. Unless your software has edits that prevent coding laterality for lymphomas, code the laterality as bilateral. Up to half of extranodal lymphomas occur in multiple sites, particularly in paired sites.
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.
Laterality: Why is a code 5 for laterality midline only allowed for certain sites of brain and skin? I have a nasal cavity tumor and the path report specifically says "Tumor laterality: midline". What is the correct laterality code here?
Assign laterality code 9 for midline nasal cavity tumor. We will investigate this issue further.
Scope of Regional Lymph Node Surgery/EOD-Number of Regional Nodes Examined: What codes is used to represent these fields when the surgeon states that a "lymph node dissection" was done, but no nodes are identified in the pathology report?
For cases diagnosed 1/1/2003 and after: Code the Scope of Regional Lymph Node Surgery field to 3 [Number of regional lymph nodes removed unknown or not stated; regional lymph nodes removed, NOS] and code the EOD-Number of Regional Nodes Examined field to 00 [No nodes examined].
The surgery fields reflect the procedures the physician performed. The EOD fields reflect the results of those procedures.
Primary site--Heme & Lymphoid Neoplasms: Should the primary site be coded to C779 or C809 when a patient is diagnosed at another facility with mantle cell lymphoma and the staging bone marrow biopsy performed at this facility is negative? There is no available information concerning where the lymphoma originated.
Per PH Rule22, code the primary site to C779 [lymph nodes, NOS].
Rule PH22 is a default rule for lymphomas that is used when there is no other information regarding the primary site and the Heme DB does not indicate a primary site under its Primary Site(s) section. Rule PH27, code the primary site to unknown [C809], does not apply. Only use C809 [unknown] as the primary site when there is no evidence of lymphoma in lymph nodes AND the physician documents that the lymphoma originates in an organ(s).
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.
MP/H Rules/Multiple primaries -- Ovary: How many primaries are to be accessioned and what rule applies when a patient has a serous carcinoma of the right ovary treated with neoadjuvant chemotherapy followed by a debulking surgery that revealed a serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma of the left fallopian tube?
For cases diagnosed 2007 or later, accession two primaries, serous carcinoma of the right ovary and serous tubal intraepithelial carcinoma of the left fallopian tube based on the information provided.
The steps used to arrive at this decision are:
Open the Multiple Primary and Histology Coding Rules Manual. Choose one of the three formats (i.e., flowchart, matrix or text) and go to the Other Sites MP rules because neither the ovary nor fallopian tube have site specific rules developed.
Start at the MULTIPLE TUMORS module, Rule M3. The rules are intended to be reviewed in consecutive order within a module. The patient has multiple tumors with ICD-O-3 topography codes that are different at the third character (Cxx) and therefore this case should be accessioned as a multiple primary.
It could be helpful to know the extent of involvement noted prior to neoadjuvant therapy and debulking surgery. For example, if the patient had widely metastatic disease throughout the entire pelvis prior to the initiation of treatment, the answer may have been different.
CS Tumor Size--Lung: If a 5/11/07 CT showed a 6.5 cm LLL mass and a 7/24/07 CT showed 8.4 cm LLL mass, do we code the larger tumor size identified within four months of diagnosis or do we code the first size documented at the time of diagnosis?
This answer was provided in the context of CSv1 coding guidelines. The response may not be used after your registry database has been converted to CSv2.Code the larger tumor size.
MP/H Rules/Multiple primaries--Breast: Is this the same primary per MP/H Rule M10? Ductal carcinoma of the left breast in 2013, treated with a lumpectomy. New tumor with ductal and lobular carcinoma in the same breast in 2016.
The 2016 diagnosis is the same primary. MP/H Rule M10 for breast cancer applies. Do not change the original histology code. Use text fields to document the later histologic type -- duct and lobular.