Reportability/Behavior Code--Bone Marrow: Is T-cell large granular lymphocytic leukemia SEER reportable? Pages 102, 147, 156, 160-162 and 167 of the ICD-O-3 list it as 9831/1, but on page 17 this is listed as 9831/3.
For cases diagnosed prior to 1/1/2010:T-cell large granular lymphocytic leukemia [9831] is a very indolent form of leukemia. It was assigned a behavior code of 1 by the editors of ICD-O-3 (as noted on pages 102, 147, 156 160-162, and 167 of the ICD-O-3 manual). The table on page 17 is the World Health Organization list of hematopoietic and lymphoid tumors. WHO recognizes TCLGLL as a malignancy. The disease is infrequently symptomatic enough to be diagnosed. However, when any of the terms listed with code 9831 are described as malignant or aggressive, report to SEER as a malignancy with a behavior code of /3.
For cases diagnosed 2010 forward, refer to the Hematopoietic and Lymphoid Neoplasm Case Reportability and Coding Manual and the Hematopoietic Database (Hematopoietic DB) provided by SEER on its website to research your question. If those resources do not adequately address your issue, submit a new question to SINQ.
Date Therapy Initiated: What date should be entered in Date Therapy Initiated when treatment follows a surgical procedure that is not coded under Surgery of Primary Site? See discussion.
If a patient has a surgical procedure that is not coded in the Surgery of Primary Site field and then the patient undergoes additional first course of treatment, such as radiation therapy, how should the Date Therapy Initiated field be coded?
In this example, code the Date Therapy Initiated field to the date of the first surgical procedure. If a SEER edit is triggered, please notify us.
EOD-Lymph Nodes--Breast: How do you code this field when the gross description on the pathology report states "nodal tissue is matted" but only 1/18 lymph nodes is found to contain micrometastatsis per the microscopic description of the report?
For cases diagnosed 1998-2003:
Code the EOD-Lymph Nodes field to 1 [Micrometastasis] because the matted nodal tissue was found to contain only one node with micrometastasis when examined microscopically. Coding priority is given to the microscopic description over the gross description.
EOD-Size of Primary Tumor: 1) Can we add "Imaging studies" to those EOD schemes that currently do not include this on their priority list for coding size? 2) When an EOD scheme already lists specific types of imaging studies, are we limited to only those types of procedures or can any imaging study be used to code size? See discussion.
How do we determine where to add "imaging studies" to the priority listing? Currently the hierarchy differs for primaries that currently include imaging studies on their EOD schemes. For example, on the breast EOD imaging ranks lower than the physical exam while on the thyroid EOD imaging ranks higher than the physical exam.
For cases diagnosed 1998-2003:
1) You may add "Imaging" to the size priority list for all EOD schemes that currently do not include it. Prioritize it just above the physical exam for these sites.
2) You may use the information from any imaging technique to code tumor size, even for those sites such as breast and bladder where specific imaging tests are mentioned.
Primary Site/EOD Fields--Head & Neck: In the absence of an actual resection and a pathologic evaluation of the affected area, would a laryngoscopy or CT scan provide a better assessment of the EOD and the primary site?
For cases diagnosed 1998-2003:
For Primary Site and EOD, CT information has higher priority than laryngoscopy. The CT scan gives a better picture of the involvement of the deeper tissues. A laryngoscopy falls into the "physical exam" category more than the "operative" category. The laryngoscopy report is not an "operative" report like those generated from a surgical procedure.
Primary Site/Surgery of Primary Site--Lymphoma: What codes are used in these fields when both regional lymph nodes and an extra-nodal site are involved with lymphoma and there is not a clear statement from the clinician as to the primary site? See discussion.
In our registry, we code the primary site for such cases to the extra-lymphatic site if there is one extra-nodal site involved with disease and the patient does not have disseminated involvement of multiple extra-nodal sites. Is this correct? Example: A patient with a submandibular lymphoma and involved nodes undergoes a salivary gland excision and a modified radical neck dissection yielding 100 nodes.
For cases diagnosed prior to 1/1/2010:Code the Primary Site to C08.0 [submandibular gland] and use the surgery code schemes that apply to that site (Parotid and Other Unspecified Glands). Physiologically, lymphoma cells in regional lymph nodes do not "back-flow" into the extralymphatic organ to involve it secondarily. As a result, the primary site is usually the extralymphatic organ with regional lymph node involvement. Do not be afraid to code an extralymphatic site as primary when that site and its regional nodes are involved.
If the lymph nodes are not regional to the extra-nodal involved site and the primary site cannot be determined, code the primary site to C77.9 [Lymph node, NOS].
For cases diagnosed 2010 forward, refer to the Hematopoietic and Lymphoid Neoplasm Case Reportability and Coding Manual and the Hematopoietic Database (Hematopoietic DB) provided by SEER on its website to research your question. If those resources do not adequately address your issue, submit a new question to SINQ.
Histology (Pre-2007)--Breast: What code is used to represent histology for "invasive ductal carcinoma with squamous differentiation"? Is "squamous differentiation" synonymous with "squamous metaplasia"?
For tumors diagnosed prior to 2007:
Code the Histology field to 8570/3 [Adenocarcinoma with squamous metaplasia]. Our pathology consultant agrees that squamous metaplasia is synonymous with squamous differentiation.
For tumors diagnosed 2007 or later, refer to the MP/H rules. If there are still questions about how this type of tumor should be coded, submit a new question to SINQ and include the difficulties you are encountering in applying the MP/H rules.
EOD-Extension--Head & Neck: How much information is needed for a head and neck primary in order to code extension to localized versus unknown? What code is used to represent this field when the only information for a buccal cavity primary is a positive aspiration of the buccal mass?
For cases diagnosed 1998-2003:
Code the EOD-Extension to 99 [Unknown] for this case until more information is received. The available information does not describe the primary site and there is a complete lack of staging information.
Head and neck cancers spread early and often to nodes. Do not code the EOD-Extension to localized when the information is as limited as it is for this example.
EOD-Extension--Breast: The SEER coding scheme classifies the in situ portion as less than 25% [code 14] or equal to or greater than 25% [code 15]. How do you code a pathologist's statement of "less than or equal to 25%"? See discussion.
"insitu ca constitutes less than or equal to 25% of the total mass."
For cases diagnosed 1998-2003:
Code the EOD-Extension field to 14 [invasive and in situ components present, size of entire tumor coded in Tumor Size AND in situ described as minimal (less than 25%)]. The pathologist did not use a code as defined by SEER. For cases described as "less than or equal to 25%", choose the lower of the two EOD code choices.
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