| Report | Question ID | Question | Discussion | Answer | Year |
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20130070 | Reportability--Is "intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm with low grade dysplasia" (also called IPMN adenoma) reportable? See Discussion. |
According to the ICD-O-3, the histology for IPMN adenoma is 8453/0 is non-reportable. However, per SINQ 20021099, this is reportable. |
Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) of the pancreas with low grade dysplasia, also referred to as IPMN adenoma, is not reportable. IPMN of the pancreas is reportable when stated as "IPMN with high-grade dysplasia," or "IPMN with an associated invasive carcinoma," or "IPMN with an associated in situ carcinoma." The case in SINQ 20021099 is stated to have "multifocal high grade dysplasia (so-called borderline tumor and carcinoma in-situ)" and is reportable because there is an explicit statement of carcinoma in situ, not because of the reference to the presence of high grade dysplasia. It is coded 8453/2 [Intraductal papillary-mucinous carcinoma, non-invasive]. |
2013 |
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20170051 | Reportability--Liver: Is intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) of the liver a reportable diagnosis? See Discussion. |
Pathology shows: Right liver lobe, partial hepatectomy " intraductal papillary neoplasm with high grade dysplasia. |
Intraductal papillary mucinous neoplasm (IPMN) of the liver with high grade dysplasia is reportable. While most IPMNs arise from the pancreas, there exists a subset of IPMN of the biliary tract (BT-IPMN). Code as 8453/2. For more details, see the Reportability section of the SEER manual, https://seer.cancer.gov/manuals/2016/SPCSM_2016_maindoc.pdf |
2017 |
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20200056 | Reportability--Gallbladder: Is Intracholecystic papillary neoplasm (ICPN) with low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia reportable? The primary site is gallbladder. |
Intracholecystic papillary neoplasm (ICPN) with low-grade intraepithelial neoplasia is not reportable. The WHO assigns a behavior of 0 to these neoplasms. |
2020 | |
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20220014 | Surgery of Primary Site--Melanoma: How is Surgery of Primary Site coded when a path specimen is labeled as a “staged excision” for a cutaneous melanoma. See Discussion. |
Patient was diagnosed on biopsy with lentigo maligna melanoma of the nasal dorsum. The only available documentation of the subsequent surgery is a single pathology report with the nasal dorsum “staged excision (debulking specimen)” and four additional “staged excision” specimens of the same site. Is it safe to assume this is a Mohs surgery? Would it be safe to assume staged excisions of sites other than skin of face, are also Mohs surgery? |
Interpret a "staged excision" for cutaneous melanoma as a type of Mohs surgery. Skin surgery codes are currently under review and revision. Document details in available text fields. |
2022 |
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20210061 | First course treatment/Update to current manual: Should the instruction regarding expectant management in the 2021 (and 2022) SEER Manual include how to code for the patient’s decision to proceed with expectant management? See Discussion. |
Currently, First Course Therapy instruction for expectant management (also referred to as active surveillance, watchful waiting, etc.) instructs one to code 0 or 00 (not done) for all data items when the physician opts for expectant management. We find that the treatment decisions can be driven by the patient, physician, or combination of both patient and physician depending on the options presented. |
Instructions for First Course of Therapy include using the documented first course of therapy (treatment plan) from the medical record. While a patient may weigh in on the treatment decision, the physician is responsible for developing and managing the treatment plan including closely watching a patient’s condition but not giving treatment unless symptoms appear or change. We can add language to a future manual to clarify. |
2021 |
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20180098 | Solid Tumor Rules (2018)/Histology: Please provide further explanation for prioritizing biomarkers in the histology coding rules. See Discussion. |
The 2018 Solid Tumor (ST) Rules General Rules state: For those sites/histologies which have recognized biomarkers, the biomarkers frequently identify the histologic type. Currently there are clinical trials being conducted to determine whether these biomarkers can be used to identify multiple primaries. Follow the Multiple Primary Rules; do not code multiple primaries based on biomarkers. Additionally, Biomarkers is at the top of the priority order to identify histology in several sections (it appears to be excluded from only Colon, Melanoma and Other sections). In the sections that include this rule, there is not much additional information on using biomarkers. Can you please provide further explanation for prioritizing biomarkers in the histology coding rules? For example, will the ST manual be updated when we need to look for specific biomarkers in a diagnosis? |
Instructions for biomarkers will be added to other site rules when applicable. The use of biomarkers to determine a specific histologic type is not yet a standard of care in the majority of cases. |
2018 |
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20180076 | Solid Tumor Rules (2018)/Histology--Head & Neck: Where does cytology rank on the Priority Order for Using Documentation to Identify Histology for Head and Neck primaries? See Discussion. |
Cytology is not listed in the Priority Order for Using Documentation to Identify Histology (Histology Coding Rules) in the Head and Neck schema. Other schemas do include cytology in the hierarchy below tissue from a biopsy or resection. Cytology is often less specific than histology, so one would expect cytology to be listed below tissue in this hierarchy. Was this an oversight? Or would cytology be equivalent to histology if it provided the most specific histology for the case? |
Instruction #5 in the Priority Order for Using Documentation to Identify Histology of the Head and Neck Solid Tumor Rules, Item 5.B., refers to cytology in the documentation though cytology is not listed before this. In H&N tumors, cytology is usually performed on lymph nodes and seldom on a primary tumor. Cytology will be added to H&N in the next update. |
2018 |
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20081075 | Race, ethnicity/Spanish surname or origin: SEER Program Manual instructions state, "Portugese, Brazilians and Filipinos are not Spanish; Code non-Spanish (code 0)." How is that determined? Is that based SOLELY on birthplace? See Discussion. | The following are scenarios for which we would like clarification on how to code Spanish Ethnicity. |
Information about Spanish origin is available for both of these cases; code the race as Hispanic. Use the SEER manual instruction when the only information available is that the patient was born in Portugal, Brazil or the Philippines. In the absence of additional information, do not assume Hispanic. However, if additional information is available stating that the patient is Hispanic, code as Hispanic.
Spanish Surname or Origin Scenarios |
2008 |
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20230069 | First Course Treatment/Immunotherapy--Colon: Is infliximab cancer directed treatment? See Discussion. |
While SEER*Rx does indicate infliximab should be coded as biological response modifier (BRM)/Immunotherapy, the manufacturer website for this medication indicates it is given for: Crohn’s disease, ulcerative colitis, rheumatoid arthritis, psoriatic arthritis, ankylosing spondylitis, and plaque psoriasis. In addition, SEER*Rx does not indicate which primary sites this treatment may be given for. If it is indeed cancer directed treatment, can the typical primary sites be added for clarity? Case example: Patient is diagnosed with colorectal cancer and also has an existing diagnosis of Crohn’s disease; received surgery and FOLFOX6, as well as infliximab. There was no statement of what disease the infliximab was given to treat. |
infliximab is not cancer-directed treatment. This drug was last updated by the FDA 2/22/2023 with additional information on its approval to treat non-malignant neoplasms. To date, the FDA has not approved it for use in colon cancer. This drug was intially developed to treat colon cancer; however, found to be ineffective treating cancer. |
2023 |
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20200034 | Solid Tumor Rules (2018)/Histology--Breast: How should histology be coded for 2020 breast lumpectomy final diagnosis of invasive ductal carcinoma? Summary Cancer Data and CAP Summary states: Invasive carcinoma with the following features: Histologic type: Tubular adenocarcinoma. See Discussion. |
Per the 2018 Solid Tumor Rules instructions, Final Diagnosis and Staging Summary (synoptic report) have equal coding priority. However, it is unclear which takes priority, or if this should be a combination of components, when the histologies are two different specific histologic types per Table 3 of the Breast Solid Tumor Rules Manual. |
In this case, the pathologist states two different histologies. Per the H rules, when there are different histologies, code the histology which comprises the majority of tumor. Use H16 and code histology stated to be more than 50% of tumor OR H17, code 8523 when percentage is not stated or unknown. |
2020 |
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