Reportability/Diagnostic Confirmation: If a diagnosis based solely on positive flow cytometry is reportable even if a bone marrow biopsy is negative, how is diagnostic confirmation coded?
For cases diagnosed prior to 2010
The case is reportable if a recognized medical practitioner says the patient has cancer.
A flow cytometry alone is not diagnostic but it may be supported by either a positive bone marrow or a clinician's statement. If the clinicians statement is based only on flow cytometry, code diagnostic confirmation to 8 [Clinical diagnosis only].
EOD-Extension--Urinary Tract: Can the rules used to code bladder extension involving the term "no involvement of muscularis/and no mention of subepithelium/submuscosa" be used to code extension for other urinary tract primaries, such as ureter?
For cases diagnosed 1998-2003:
No. The inferred descriptions of noninvasion apply to bladder cases only.
CS Lymph Nodes--Colon: Are positive paracecal lymph nodes for cecal primaries coded to 10 [paracolic] or code 20 [cecal: anterior (prececal), posterior (retrocecal); NOS]?
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.
Assign code 20 [Regional lymph node(s) for specific subsites]. Paracecal means near the cecum. Paracecal lymph nodes are regional nodes for the cecum and not for other colon subsites.
MP/H Rules/Histology--Colon: What histology would be coded when the right colon demonstrates a combined adenocarcinoma and high grade small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma [forming the dominant component] arising in a villotubular adenoma and the liver biopsy demonstrates metastatic high grade small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma?
For cases diagnosed 2007 or later, start with rule H1 in the Single Tumor module. Stop at rule H4. Assign code 8263 [adenocarcinoma in tubulovillous adenoma].
Stop at the first rule that applies. Code histology based on a specimen from the primary site whenever available.
Reason for No Cancer-Directed Surgery--Lung: How do you code this field for a lung primary that presents with metastasis to the bone and brain in which the oncologist's treatment plan includes only radiation and chemotherapy?
Code the Reason for No Cancer-Directed Surgery field to 1 [Cancer-Directed Surgery Not Recommended].
Histology (Pre-2007)--Colon: What code is used to represent histology when the surgeon describes a sessile polyp and the final path diagnosis is stated as: "Rectal sessile polyp: Invasive moderately differentiated adenocarcinoma" (pathologist does not state that it is "arising in a sessile polyp")?
For tumors diagnosed prior to 2007:
Code the Histology field to 8210/3 [adenocarcinoma arising in a polyp]. The structure in which this adenocarcinoma is arising, is a 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.
Primary site--Heme & Lymphoid Neoplasms: How is the primary site coded for a diagnosis of multifocal Langerhans cell histiocytosis with involvement of the bone, liver, spleen and retroperitoneum?
Per Rule PH30, use the Heme DB to determine the primary site and histology when rules PH1-PH29 do not apply. Code the primary site to C419 [bone, NOS], assuming there are multiple bones involved in this case. If only one bone is involved, code the primary site to the specified bone.
In the Abstractor Notes section in the Heme DB, it indicates the primary site may differ for LCH in the solitary disease and multisystem disease. This patient has multisystem disease with involvement of the bone, liver, spleen and retroperitoneum. The most common sites for multisystem involvement include three of the four above sites (bone, liver, and spleen).
Determine the primary site based on the knowledge of the usual sites of involvement for this disease, the actual sites of involvement for the case presented, and identifying which sites of involvement are likely metastatic and which are the potential primary sites. There are two potential primary sites of involvement: the bone and the retroperitoneum. Bone is a common site of involvement for LCH while the retroperitoneum is not. Code the primary site to C419 [bone, NOS] because multiple bones are involved for this patient and bone is the most common site for LCH based on the documentation in the Abstractor Notes.
The spleen and liver are typically not primary sites for this disease process. They become involved when there is multisystem involvement because they filter the blood. They are typically sites of metastatic involvement. This information will be added to the ABSTRACTOR NOTE section.
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.
SEER Manual/Reportability--Vulva: Is vulvar intraepithelial neoplasia (VIN II) alone reportable? An example is a final diagnosis from a pathology report that states only 'VIN II' with no additional details/wording.
Report VIN II. The 2024 SEER Manual lists this as a separate diagnosis in the Reportability section under Malignant Histologies 1.a.x.
Reportability/Ambiguous Terminology--Esophagus: Is a case with a biopsy diagnosis of "... focal areas suspicious for adenocarcinoma in situ change" reportable if the diagnosis on the partial esophagectomy specimen only includes the phrase "... with foci of high grade dysplasia; no invasive carcinoma identified"?
The case is not reportable.
The biopsy with a suspicious result (suspicious for adenocarcinoma) was disproven by the esophagectomy.
The PH rules for coding lymphomas (Module 7) refer to a lymph node region as defined by the ICD-O-3. Per the Appendix C, , the ICD-O-3 lymph node region for "pelvic" is C775. In this case, there is one lymph node region involved (bilaterally). Per Rule PH20, code the specific lymph node region when multiple lymph nodes within the same lymph node region (as defined by the ICD-O-3) are involved, C775. Per Note 1 under Rule PH20, use this rule when there is bilateral involvement of lymph nodes.
This same table in Appendix C also provides information on how left and right pelvic lymph nodes are categorized by AJCC for purposes of coding stage. If the left and right pelvic lymph nodes are positive for lymphoma, it is involvement of two regions. The case is coded as Stage II.
Keep in mind that the ICD-O-3 definition of regions is used to code the primary site, while the AJCC definition of regions is used to code stage.
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.
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