Scope of Regional Lymph Node Surgery/Radiation Sequence with Surgery/Date Therapy Initiated: Is the Scope of Regional Lymph Node Surgery field used to code date of first therapy and radiation sequence with surgery? See discussion.
Example: There is no primary site surgery and only an aspirate of a lymph node and the date of therapy is based on this procedure.
Yes, the Scope of Regional Lymph Node Surgery field is used to code the Date Therapy Initiated field and the Radiation Sequence with Surgery field.
Measured Thickness--Melanoma: Can in situ melanoma cases have "depth of invasion" coded to something other than 999? See discussion.
Biopsy of the left arm: Melanoma, 0.2mm in thickness. The in situ component extends to a peripheral margin.
For cases diagnosed 1998-2003:
Code the Measured Thickness (depth) field to 020 [0.2 mm] for this case.
In situ disease can have a depth of invasion because the surface epithelium can be of varying depths without the melanoma breaking through the basement membrane.
Histology/Grade, Differentiation--Lymphoma: What code is used to represent the histology "high grade malignant lymphoma with features of so called blastic NK cell cutaneous lymphoma [hematodermic lymphoma]" found on punch biopsy?
For cases diagnosed prior to 1/1/2010:Code the Histology field to 9709/3 [cutaneous lymphoma, NOS]. Code the Grade, Differentiation field to 8 [NK cell].
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.
EOD-Extension--Breast: Should clinically mentioned "thickening" of the breast be ignored if the pathology report does not mention thickening or skin involvement? See discussion.
For cases diagnosed 1998-2003: Can clinical "thickening" of the breast be coded to 20-28 extension code when there is no mention of the thickening or skin involvement in the pathology report? How do we code cases when pathology reports don't support the clinical finding of skin involvement.
For cases diagnosed 1998-2003: Do not use code 20-28 when there is no preoperative treatment and the pathology report does not confirm skin invasion. The clinical diagnosis of skin involvement was not supported by the pathology report.
Multiple Primaries/Histology (Pre-2007)--Colon: Would one primary be reported when adenocarcinoma arising in a polyp NOS [8210/3] and adenocarcinoma arising in a tubulovillous adenoma [8263/3] were simultaneously diagnosed in the sigmoid colon (first 3-digits of the histology are different)?
For tumors diagnosed prior to 2007:
Code as one primary. Code the Histology field to 8263/3 [Adenocarcinoma in tubulovillous adenoma].
Count as a single primary and code the more specific term when simultaneous lesions are present and one lesion is an "NOS" term and the other is a more specific term. "Polyp" is an NOS term. Adenoma is an associated term, but is more specific (Tubulovillous adenoma is more specific than "polyp").
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.
Date Therapy Initiated: How would you estimate the date treatment began for a patient who was treated elsewhere and seen only on an outpatient basis at the current facility? See discussion.
July 19th: Retromolar trigone primary was diagnosed.
August 8th note states, "Pt is not a surgical candidate due to multiple medical co-morbidities." Sept 19th note states, "Per Tumor Board, pt has been undergoing radiation for her head and neck cancer." The exact starting date for radiation is not specified.
In the SEER Program Code Manual it states that "In the absence of an exact date of treatment, the date of admission for that hospitalization during which the first cancer directed therapy was begun is an acceptable entry."
If possible, review the radiation treatment summary and outpatient records at the treating facility. If the date treatment began is not stated, look for the completion date and number of treatments, and calculate the first date of treatment.
If the date radiation started cannot be found or calculated, code the month as 09 for the example provided. The determination was made in August NOT to treat with surgery. We know that there was treatment in September.
Histology: How do we code this field when a less representative specimen has a more specific morphology? See discussion.
Example: Biopsy revealed endometrioid adenocarcinoma and the resection demonstrated adenocarcinoma, NOS. Do we code histology per the most representative sample, or to the more specific morphology?
Code the histology using the pathology report from the most representative specimen, even if that histology is less specific.
For the case example above, code 8140 [adenocarcinoma, NOS].
The rationale is that a diagnosis from a smaller specimen will be less accurate and less representative of the true histology compared to a larger tumor specimen.
Histology (Pre-2007)--Breast: What code is used to represent the histology "mucinous carcinoma with Paget disease"?
For tumors diagnosed prior to 2007:
Code the Histology field to 8480/3 [mucinous carcinoma]. This answer assumes the patient presented with a single tumor. There is no combination code that includes these two entities. According to the rules for Coding Complex Morphologic Diagnoses, it would appear that the case should be coded to 8540 [Paget disease] because it is the higher code. However, this combination of histologies represents an exception to that rule. The prognosis for mucinous carcinoma is worse than the prognosis for Paget disease. As a result, it would be more appropriate to the histology to mucinous carcinoma.
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.
Histology (Pre-2007): What code is used to represent the histology if the final diagnosis between an electron microscopy report and the immunocytochemistry (ICC) differs and both histologies are specific (e.g., one report states papillary carcinoma and the other states squamous cell carcinoma)?
For tumors diagnosed prior to 2007:
There is no established hierarchy between electron microscopy and ICC findings. Contact the pathologists involved in these types of cases to determine the final histologic diagnosis.
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.
Reportability--Hematopoietic, NOS: Is "evolving" multiple myeloma reportable to SEER?
For cases diagnosed prior to 1/1/2010:No, it is not SEER reportable. The diagnosis of "evolving" multiple myeloma could represent a plasmacytoma, plasma cell dyscrasia or another lymphoproliferative disorder. Some of these histologies are SEER reportable, but some are not. Additional information would be needed to determine reportability. If you are unable to obtain more information, the case is non-reportable.
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.