Report | Question ID | Question | Discussion | Answer | Year |
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20021090 | Primary Site--Ovary/Peritoneum: How should the Primary Site field be coded when no resection is done and it is uncertain whether the primary site is in the ovary or the peritoneum? See discussion. | CT: ascites, omental cake and peritoneal studding. H&P impression: probable ovarian or peritoneal primary. Repeat CT: no enlarged adnexal mass seen to suggest ca of ovary, but possibility couldn't be ruled out. Omental bx: Metastatic ca. Comment: "IHC stains have been performed and are not typical of ovarian ca, although do not exclude an ovarian primary." After the bx, there were two clinical diagnoses written a month apart with no evidence of further work-up between those dates. The first diagnosis was "ovarian ca". The second was "Peritoneal carcinomatosis 2 month ago; Primary is unknown, possibly ovarian." | Use the best information available to identify the primary site. In this case, it is the physician's clinical assessment. Code the Primary Site to C56.9 [Ovary] for this example because the ovary is indicated to be the primary site according to the physicians involved.
When there is no surgical procedure involving the removal of the ovaries, code the Primary Site based on the clinical assessment of the disease location. If the disease is only noted to be in the peritoneum, code site to peritoneum, NOS. If the disease is seen clinically in both the ovary and the peritoneum, code site to ovary. |
2002 |
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20020057 | Histology (Pre-2007)--Melanoma: What code is used to represent the histology "radial growth phase: melanoma, superficial spreading type; vertical growth phase: epithelioid type"? See discussion. | Can the "growth phase" be used to code histology? If so, would the histology be epithelioid cell melanoma (8771/3)? | For tumors diagnosed prior to 2007:
Code the Histology field to 8771/3 [epithelioid cell melanoma]. The "growth phase" information in this case describes the horizontal spread and the "invasive" or vertical growth through the layers of skin.
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. |
2002 |
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20051108 | Reportability--Brain and CNS: Which types of neurofibromatosis are reportable to SEER? See Discussion. | Clin exam: probable neurofibromatosis, type I. On the trunk alone are >14 cafe au lait spots all at least 10mm. Both axillary regions have freckling. No palpable fibromas, spine is straight, no organomegaly. MRI of head: no abnormality. | Neurofibromatosis type I (von Recklinghausen's disease, the Elephant Man disease) is primarily tumors of the subcutaneous tissues. By itself, NF1 is not reportable. NF2 is much more likely to develop acoustic neuromas. This syndrome is reportable only when acoustic neuroma(s) is present, because the acoustic neuroma is what is reportable. This case is not reportable because none of the symptoms affect the central nervous system. | 2005 |
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20041064 | CS Tumor Size/CS Extension/CS TS/Ext-Eval--Breast: How do you code these fields when the tumor size and extension differ pre and post treatment with neoadjuvant Arimidex? See Discussion. | Clinically on PE 3 cm mass attached to skin with dimpling and erythema overlying the mass. Ultrasound: 2-3 cm breast mass with overlying skin thickened by US evaluation, suggesting dermal invasion. Neoadjuvant Arimidex followed by MRM. Path: 4.5 cm ductal carcinoma (no DCIS), no invasion of skin. | 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.Record the larger tumor size and the farthest extension documented.
Code CS Tumor Size/Extension Evaluation to 6 [Surgical resection performed, WITH pre-surgical systemic treatment...; tumor size/extension based on pathologic evidence].
Code CS Tumor Size for the example to 045 [4.5 cm].
Code CS Extension to 20 [Local skin involvement ...] based on clinical description provided. |
2004 |
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20071025 | Radiation Therapy: How is radiation coded when it is "recommended" but the patient dies before radiation is started? See Discussion. | Code 0 seems appropriate but then we would lose the fact that it had been recommended. All of the other modalities give an option for 'recommended but patient died prior to treatment.' Is there a reason this option is not given for radiation? | Code Radiation (Rx Summ--Radiation) to 0 [None; diagnosed at autopsy].
SEER does not collect the Reason For No Radiation field. However, those who abstract using software that captures this data item can identify these cases. Code 5 [radiation not administered because patient died] reflects this situation.
Radiation (Rx Summ-Radiation) is a SEER field. This field is derived from the data collected in Rad-Boost Rx Modality and Rad-Regional TX Modality. These fields do not include a choice for "radiation not given because the patient died prior to treatment." Therefore, this information cannot be coded in the Radiation field. |
2007 |
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20071100 | Type of Multiple Tumors--Colon: How is this field coded for a case in which the patient is found to have two in situ polyps and an adenocarcinoma arising in a polyp all in the same segment of the colon? See Discussion. | Code 30 would not count the fact that these are polyps. Code 31 states "AND a frank adenocarcinoma." What would be the correct code? | Assign code 30 [In situ and invasive] in this case. Code 31 does not apply here because frank adenocarcinoma is not present. | 2007 |
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20021190 | Histology (Pre-2007)--Bladder: What code is used to represent the histology "transitional cell and small cell carcinoma" of the bladder? See discussion. | Code 8045/3 is used for combination codes that represent a mixture of small cell carcinoma and any other carcinoma. When we use this histology code for bladder primaries with mixed transitional cell and small cell carcinoma, we encounter a problem with the SEER edits (site and morphology conflict). | For tumors diagnosed prior to 2007:
Please see SEER Inquiry question ID number 20041104.
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. |
2002 |
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20081047 | Reason no surgery of primary site/First course treatment: If the Reason no Surgery of Primary Site field is coded as 7 (refused), must the other treatment options (radiation, chemo, hormone) also be coded as 7? See Discussion. | Coding instruction #5 in the SEER manual states: "Assign code 7 (refused) if the patient refused recommended surgery or made a blanket statement that he/she refused all treatment." | Refused [code 7] means this modality was specifically recommended by the physician and the patient refused. If two treatment alternatives were offered and surgery was refused, code Reason no surgery of primary site 1 [Surgery of the primary site was not performed because it was not part of the planned first-course treatment]. Refusal of surgery does not necessarily mean that all treatment was refused. Coding Surgery of Primary Site as "refused" does not affect the coding of Radiation, Chemotherapy, Hormone Therapy, etc. |
2008 |
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20041099 | First Course Treatment: If a patient makes a blanket refusal of all recommended therapy or refuses all treatment before any therapy was recommended, are only immunotherapy and hematologic/endocrine therapies to be coded as refused (code 87)? Or should all treatment modalities be coded as refused if a patient makes a blanket refusal? Or should none of the treatment modalities be coded as refused because we do not know what would have been recommended? See Discussion. | Coding instructions for immunotherapy and for hematologic/endocrine procedures state that Code 87 is to be assigned if either of the following circumstances apply: 1) If the patient made a blanket refusal of all recommended treatment. 2) If the patient refused all treatment before any was recommended. These instructions are not included for other treatment modalities. | When the patient refuses treatment, the first course of therapy is no treatment. Code all treatments as refused. | 2004 |
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20100072 | Histology/Reportability--Heme & Lymphoid Neoplasms: Is a diagnosis of follicular lymphoma in situ of the gallbladder reportable for 2010? See Discussion. | Coding the histology to 9690 [Follicular lymphoma] with a behavior of 2 [in situ] causes many edits including SEER and CS edits to fail. According to the chief of pathology, this is a recently identified pathologic entity. | For cases diagnosed 2010 and forward, access the Hematopoietic Database at http://seer.cancer.gov/seertools/hemelymph.
Currently, lymphoma in situ is not reportable. It is true that this is a recently identified pathologic entity. Our experts say that there is still some controversy to be ironed out regarding the criteria for identifying an in situ lymphoma. Their recommendation was to wait until clear guidelines had been established for the pathologists before we start collection of in situ lymphomas. We anticipate collecting these entities in the future.
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. |
2010 |