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20190023 | First course of treatment/Radiation therapy--Kidney: Patient has a CT-guided biopsy of a right renal mass with procedure details under the Interventional Radiology Procedure Note stating "Gelfoam tract embolization." Is this particular embolization treatment? |
Gelfoam tract embolization for a CT-guided renal biopsy is not treatment. It is a method to plug the biopsy track to reduce the risk of hemorrhage. |
2019 | |
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20190057 | Reportability/Histology--Penis: Are and (PeIN) equivalent to PeIN3 and thus reportable? See Discussion. |
Appendix E1 of the 2018 SEER manual references a similar diagnosis as being reportable for vulva and vagina only. However, the WHO Classification of Tumors of the Urinary System and Male Genital Organs (4th ed) does include high grade penile intraepithelial neoplasia as a synonym for 8077/2. |
Penile intraepithelial neoplasia, grade III (PeIN III) and squamous cell carcinoma in situ of the penis are reportable. If possible, query the physicians as to whether "high grade penile intraepithelial lesion" or are synonymous with one of the reportable terms. If no further information can be obtained, report the case as C609 8077/2, and use text fields to document the details. |
2019 |
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20190021 | Sequence Number Central--Brain and CNS: How is Sequence Number--Central coded for current/recent benign brain/CNS tumors when the patient has a history of an additional non-malignant CNS tumor diagnosed prior to 2004 (when these tumors became reportable to SEER)? See Discussion. |
We are confused by the SEER Program Coding and Staging Manual 2018 instruction that states: This sequence number counts all tumors that were reportable in the year they were diagnosed even if the tumors occurred before the registry existed or before the registry participated in the SEER Program. Does this rule apply to benign and borderline CNS tumors? Does this mean that any non-malignant CNS tumor diagnosed prior to 2004 should NOT be included in the sequencing (in the 60s range) if we were collecting non-malignant CNS per our State Registry reporting requirements prior to 2004? Example: Patient has a March 2017 diagnosis of right sided vestibular schwannoma (C724-1, 9560/0) and a prior history of left sided acoustic neuroma (c724-2, 9560/0) diagnosed in 1991. How should sequence be coded for each primary in our file? |
For your example, code the Sequence Number--Central as 61 for the 1991 diagnosis if this was a state registry requirement in 1991 and code 62 for the 2017 diagnosis. |
2019 |
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20190098 | Solid Tumor Rules (2018)/Multiple primaries--Breast: How many primaries are there and how is histology coded for a breast primary showing encapsulated papillary carcinoma and Paget disease of the nipple? See Discussion. |
Patient has a 1.7 cm encapsulated papillary carcinoma staged as pTis located 2 cm from the nipple and Paget disease of the nipple on mastectomy pathology. There is no indication in Table 3: Specific Histologies, NOS/NST, and Subtypes/Variants that encapsulated papillary carcinoma is a subtype of ductal carcinoma. Rule M8 notes that if the histology of the underlying tumor is any histology OTHER THAN duct or subtypes of duct, one should continue through the rules. But if M9 applies to this case, then incidence reporting will be increased in comparison to prior years. |
Abstract multiple primaries when there is Paget disease (8540/3) and an underlying tumor that is not duct, in this case, encapsulated papillary carcinoma (8504/2) using Rule M9 of the 2018 Breast Solid Tumor Rules. |
2019 |
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20190088 | Surgery of Primary Site/Surgical Procedure of Other Site--Breast: When bilateral nipple/skin sparing mastectomies are performed for a single primary confined to one breast, we should code 30 for surgery and 0 for Surgery of Other Site or follow the CAnswer Forum and code 1 in Surgery of Other Site? See Discussion. |
Registrars are confused because the STORE manual dropped "involved" from the description of contralateral breast removal in the Appendix B surgical codes. In April, 2019, CAnswer Forum instructed registrars to code both the surgery with uninvolved breast to the proper code, plus code Surgery of Other Site to 1. In October, they stepped back and instructed registrars not to code Surgery of Other Site to 1 if a code for uninvolved breast removal is included in the breast surgery code. However, they insist that if the surgery code is 30, subcutaneous mastectomy, and the uninvolved contralateral breast is also removed, then continue to code Surgery of Other Site to 1. This contradicts the specific instructions for Surgery of Other Sites. |
For single primaries only, code removal of involved contralateral breast under the data item Surgical Procedure/Other Site (NAACCR Item # 1294), this is, code 1, according to the 2018 SEER Manual: Assign code 1 When the involved contralateral breast is removed for a single primary breast cancer This would also apply when Surgery of the Primary Site code is 30 (subcutaneous mastectomy) for breast. If uninvolved, assign code 0 to Surgical Procedure of Other Site SEER registries should follow the instructions according to the SEER Manual. |
2019 |
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20190026 | Solid Tumor Rules (2018)/Multiple primaries--Bladder: Does Rule M11 in the 04/2019 Solid Tumor Rules Urinary update apply to synchronous/simultaneous tumors only or to multiple tumors with any timing? See Discussion. |
Rule M11 states: Abstract a single primary when there are urothelial carcinomas in multiple urinary organs, but neither the Rule nor the Notes describe the timing of these multiple urinary organ carcinomas. Timing requirements for other rules are clearly stated. Does Rule M11 have a timing requirement or is it intended to apply to all urothelial carcinoma tumors regardless of timing (and not already qualifying for application of a previous M rule)? |
The revised Urinary Solid Tumor Rules 2018 Rule M11, updated April 2019, removed the requirement of synchronous. This applies to urothelial carcinoma (8120) and its corresponding subtypes, regardless of behavior, that occur in more than one urinary site in a patient's lifetime. See change log for the April 2019 update to urinary rules.This is the same M/PH rule for multiple sites. Timing does not factor in to this rule. |
2019 |
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20190083 | Solid Tumor Rules (2018)/Multiple primaries--Prostate: How many primaries should be reported when metastatic small cell carcinoma of the prostate is diagnosed at the same time as adenocarcinoma of the prostate? See Discussion. |
Patient has biopsy of prostate 12/28/2018 showing Gleason 5+5 adenocarcinoma. Liver biopsy on same date is metastatic small cell carcinoma consistent with prostate primary. Oncology consult states that liver biopsy is likely neuroendocrine conversion from prostate carcinoma. Patient also has bone metastasis and receives radiation, Lupron, Casodex, and chemotherapy of carboplatin and etopiside. Per Solid Tumor Rules, we code histology from primary site over a metastatic site. Thus, the small cell carcinoma, which appears to be the focus of the chemotherapy is lost. Is it correct to code this as a single primary with an adenocarcinoma histology? Both SINQ 20130221 and 20180088 instruct us to abstract multiple primaries when patient develops a metastatic small cell carcinoma of the prostate after being previously diagnosed with adenocarcinoma of the prostate. |
Accession two primaries, adenocarcinoma [8140/3] of the prostate [C619] and small cell neuroendocrine carcinoma [8041/3] of the prostate [C619] per Rule M17 of the Other Sites Solid Tumor Rules 2018, as these are different histologies with different histology codes at the second number. Adenocarcinoma of prostate often manifests as a small cell carcinoma following treatment or as a progression of disease. It is important to capture these tumors as new primaries. |
2019 |
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20190020 | Solid Tumor Rules (2018)/Histology--Head & Neck: What table in the Head and Neck Solid Tumor Rules applies to tumors of the lip (C000-C009)? The rules apply to all tumors in sites C000-C148, C300-C339, C410, C411, C442 and C479, but none of the histology tables include the lip. See Discussion. |
Example: Patient has a secretory carcinoma of minor salivary gland tissue (mammary analogue secretory carcinoma [MASC]) of the mucosal lower lip; it is unclear which table to use and how to arrive at the correct histology using the H Rules. Rule H1 (code the histology when only one histology is present) states, Note 1: Use Tables 1-9 to code histology. There is no table that includes the lip. The correct histology should be 8502 which is listed in Table 6 (Tumors of Salivary Glands) however this does not correspond to minor salivary glands of the mucosal lip (site C003 per ICD-O-3 coding instruction). The 2018 ICD-O-3 Update table does not include this histology, however Table 6 indicates code 8502 (secretory carcinoma) is a new code that was approved by IARC/WHO. The ICD-O-3 only includes this histology as secretory carcinoma of breast. Therefore, in order to arrive at the correct histology, one must be aware of previous SINQ entries 20160036 and 20130003 that indicate secretory carcinoma (or MASC) is histology 8502. However, these are related to MP/H Rules, so registrars may be hesitant to apply this guideline to cases coded using Solid Tumor Rules. |
Assign 8502/3 using Table 6 of 2018 Solid Tumor Rules for Head and Neck. Table 4 notes that there is no ICD-O site code for minor salivary glands. Many minor salivary glands are located in the lips, inner cheek (buccal mucosa), and there are extensive minor salivary glands in the linings of the mouth and throat. Code to the site in which the salivary gland is located. Mammary analog secretory carcinoma (MASC), also called secretory carcinoma, is a rare, generally low-grade salivary gland carcinoma characterized by morphological resemblance to mammary secretory carcinoma and ETV6-NTRK3 gene fusion. Common sites are of the parotid gland, oral cavity, submandibular gland, and the axilla with rare sites being the face including the lips, trunk, and limbs according to WHO Classification of Head and Neck Tumors, 4th edition and WHO Classification of Skin Tumors, 4th edition. This histology is usually associated with primary site of breast and you may get an edit that you can override. |
2019 |
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20190102 | Solid Tumor Rules/Histology--Head & Neck: What is the histology code of an external ear lesion when the dermatopathology report is the only available information (follow-up with the physician or pathologist is not possible) and the final diagnosis is malignant spindle cell neoplasm, most consistent with atypical fibroxanthoma? See Discussion. |
There are two histologies provided in the final diagnosis, malignant spindle cell neoplasm (8004/3) and atypical fibroxanthoma (8830/3). There is a definitive diagnosis of the non-specific histology, but the more specific histology is only described using ambiguous terminology. The external ear (C442) is included in the Head and Neck schema for diagnosis year 2018 and later. The Head and Neck Histology Rules indicate ambiguous terminology cannot be used to code a more specific histology. So ignoring the atypical fibroxanthoma, because it is modified by ambiguous terminology, we are left with a non-reportable site and histology combination (C442, 8004/3). Diagnoses of malignant atypical fibroxanthomas are regularly diagnosed using the syntax above in our area. Follow-up with the physician or pathologist is generally not possible as these cases are received from dermatopathology clinics only. The pathology report is the only information that will be received. If the reportable diagnosis of malignant atypical fibroxanthoma is ignored per the current Solid Tumor Rules, incidence cases will be lost. |
By definition, atypical fibroxanthoma (AFX) is a diagnosis of exclusion. Markers of specific differentiation must be negative. As written in your example, neither histology is reportable for skin. If possible, clarify the behavior of the AFX (8830/1) with the pathologist to determine reportability of the case. |
2019 |
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20190095 | Reportability/Histology--Thymus: Is a thymoma a malignancy if described as having separate tumor nodules within peri-thymic adipose tissue? See Discussion. |
Patient had a thymectomy including pericardial fat for a mediastinal mass found incidentally during lung screening. Final diagnosis is WHO B3 thymoma. Staging Summary lists transcapsular invasion: "Present, as separate tumor nodules within peri-thymic adipose tissue." Tumor extension is stated to be "Confined to thymus, including peri-thymic adipose tissue." The pathologist staged this resection as pT1a pNX with no mention of mets. Clinically, there are no noted metastatic sites and no further treatment is planned. |
Report this case as a malignant thymoma. Our expert pathologist consultant reviewed this case and in his opinion, the "separate tumor nodules within peri-thymic adipose tissue" fit registry reporting criteria for separate tumor nodules making this a malignant thymoma. |
2019 |
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