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| Report | Question ID | Question | Discussion (Ascending) | Answer |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 20051032 | Reportability/Behavior--Brain and CNS: How is a brain "neoplasm" diagnosed only by CT scan reported to SEER? See Discussion. | We have a significant number of patients who come into our emergency room and are diagnosed with a brain neoplasm by CT scan. They are transferred to another facility for further care. Some of those facilities will give us information - histology, treatment, etc. Some will not. How are we supposed to report these brain neoplasms if we don't know if they are benign or malignant? Can we report them as behavior code 9 or do we just report them as benign if we can't get any further information? | The case above is reportable and 8000/1 is the most appropriate histology/behavior code. A clinical diagnosis alone from diagnostic imaging reporting a brain 'neoplasm' (with a diagnosis date supporting the reportable case requirements) even with no other information available (from biopsy or resection) is reportable. Care should be taken when reviewing terms used by the radiologist on these reports, since some tumors exhibit defining characteristics that can be picked up on diagnostic imaging. | |
| 20031185 | Primary Site: How is this field coded for a mass involving the gastroesophageal junction and lower third of the esophagus? See Description. | We have an EGD report describing an ulcerated and infiltrative circumferential non-bleeding 10 cm. mass of malignant appearance found at the gastro-esophageal junction and lower third of the esophagus. The mass caused a partial obstruction. Biopsies were taken from the the gastroesophageal junction and lower third of esophagus. Pathologic diagnosis: Adenocarcinoma. Would this be coded C26.8? | Search for a statement indicating the site of origin. If the site of origin cannot be determined, and there is evidence of Barrett's esophagus, code the topography in the example above to C15.5 [Lower third of esophagus]. If there is no evidence of Barrett's esophagus, assign code C16.0 [Gastroesophageal junction]. Either C15.5 or C16.0 would be preferable to C26.8, which is very non-specific and includes GI tract, pancreas and biliary tract. | |
| 20081018 | CS Tumor Size: Is a 5.5 mm tumor coded as 005 or 006? See Discussion. | We interpret the CS Manual general instructions to indicate to ONLY round up to 001 when the tumor size is stated to be 0.1 to 0.9mm. | 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.Code CS tumor size 006. Because only whole numbers in mm can be collected, basic mathematical principles are used for rounding; 1-4 round down, 5-9 round up. |
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| 20051077 | First Course Treatment--Unknown & ill-defined site: We have a case with an unknown primary site and the patient had chemoembolization into the hepatic artery. We don't know how to code this treatment. See Discussion. | We were told to code as surgery (10) and chemo (01). However an unknown primary automatically gets a (98) surgery code & the chemo is coded (01) but we can't code as systemic therapy. This is an edit. Chemo coded but no date of systemic therapy. | Effective for cases coded prior to the change in policy made on January 9, 2008, code chemoembolization of a metastatic site as 1 [nonprimary surgical procedure performed] in Surgical Procedure of Other Site. Surgery of Primary Site code 98 is assigned to all cases with an unknown primary. In the case of a liver primary, it would be coded 10 [local tumor destruction, NOS] in Surgical Procedure of Primary Site. |
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| 20100093 | MP/H Rules/Multiple primaries: Please clarify how rule M10 for Other Sites was developed and how a "recurrence" of the tumor after one year was determined to be a new primary? See Discussion. | What is the expected outcome or result of rule M10? Specifically, for soft tissue sarcomas, why is a recurrence after one year considered a new primary instead of a recurrence? | For cases diagnosed 2007 or later: Rule M10, tumors occurring more than one year apart are multiple primaries, was developed to differentiate a new primary from a recurrence. The rule was developed with the concurrence of the CoC site-specialty physicians and the SEER consulting pathologist. There was agreement between all of the CoC site teams and the consulting pathologist that statements of recurrence should not be relied upon to rule out a new primary. The time limits for each site were set based on information from peer-reviewed articles on tumors occurring in the same site and studies using molecular studies to confirm whether or not the tumors were histologically similar. Determination of the time limit for the "other sites" rules was probably the most difficult because so many sites are involved. However, the specialty-physicians felt that one year was an appropriate length of time to apply to these sites. | |
| 20031090 | EOD-Size of Primary Tumor/First Course Treatment--Breast: How is tumor size coded when preventative tamoxifen treatment precedes breast cancer diagnosis? Can we code the tumor size from the surgical specimen? Is tamoxifen considered treatment here? See Description. | What is the tumor size in this situation? Patient is on the STAR trial (preventative tamoxifen for women with high risk for breast cancer). Patient develops breast cancer and has surgery. | For cases diagnosed 1998-2003: Code EOD-Size of Primary Tumor from the surgical pathology report.
Do not code this preventative tamoxifen as first course cancer-directed treatment. This tamoxifen was part of a clinical trial intending to delay or prevent beast cancer from developing. |
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| 20010131 | Histology (Pre-2007): Can adenocarcinoma in either a villous or tubulovillous polyp or adenoma be coded as histology for sites other than colon or rectum? See discussion. | When adenocarcinoma of the endometrium arises in a villoglandular polyp is the histology coded as 8263/3? | For tumors diagnosed prior to 2007:
Code the Histology field to 8263/3 [adenocarcinoma in a tubulovillous adenoma]. Histology codes 8261 [adenocarcinoma in a villous adenoma] and 8263 [adenocarcinoma in a tubulovillous adenoma] are used for non-colorectal sites when the cancer arises in 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. |
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| 20130014 | Reportability--Heme & Lymphoid Neoplasms: Is Castleman disease reportable when diagnosed 2010 and later? | When checking Castleman disease in the Hematopoietic Database, the result is a reportable histology code 9738/3. However, per an online search, Castleman disease is a very rare disorder characterized by non-cancerous growths (tumors). | For cases diagnosed 2010 and forward, access the Hematopoietic Database at http://seer.cancer.gov/seertools/hemelymph.
Castleman disease, NOS, is not reportable for cases diagnosed 2010 and later. However, when Castleman disease is diagnosed in connection with large B-cell lymphoma [9738/3], it is reportable.
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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| 20010136 | Reason no treatment/Surgery of Primary Site: Does the "Reason for No Cancer-Directed Therapy" field only relate to the "Surgery of Primary Site" field? If so, for what diagnosis years is that effective? Have SEER's coding guidelines changed over time? See discussion. | Whenever a surgical procedure is performed that results in a non 0 or 9 code in any one of the Surgery fields, should the Reason for No Site-Specific Surgery field be coded to 0 [Cancer-directed surgery performed]? | For cases diagnosed 2003 and forward: The field "Reason for No Surgery of Primary Site" applies only to surgery of primary site. This is a change from the pre-2003 instructions. | |
| 20130030 | Histology--Heme & Lymphoid Neoplasms: How is histology coded for a patient diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, immunoblastic [9684/3] in 2009 and a recurrence in 2010 at another facility was referred to as plasmablastic lymphoma [9735/3]? See Discussion. | Which code is correct for the merged record? Is code 9735/3 [plasmablastic lymphoma] correct because code 9684/3 [DLBCL, immunoblastic] is now obsolete? | For cases diagnosed 2010 and forward, access the Hematopoietic Database at http://seer.cancer.gov/seertools/hemelymph.
This case was originally diagnosed in 2009, prior to the development of Hematopoietic Database. Therefore it is necessary to use the ICD-O-3 to code histology to 9684/3 [diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, immunoblastic]. Use the original histology diagnosed for the merged record because DLBCL, immunoblastic, and plasmablastic lymphoma are considered the same primary. Do not change the histology to code 9735/3 [plasmablastic lymphoma].
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. |
