The SEER Program strives to make all L/R/D stage variables consistent for all cancer sites for the appropriate years. However, there are certain site/year combinations where this is not possible. The following table details changes imposed on the stage variables by the SEER Program.

Any cases diagnosed in years not covered by the year range indicated in parentheses within the stage variable name are coded as Blank. Cancer sites without notations for a stage variable are fully staged within the year ranges covered by the variable.

Site Recode with Kaposi Sarcoma and Mesothelioma SEER Summary
Stage 2000 (1998+)		 SEER Historic
Stage A (1973-2015)a, b
Gum and Other Mouth All cases are blank  
Nasopharynx All cases are blank 2004+ all cases are blank
Tonsil All cases are blank  
Oropharynx All cases are blank  
Hypopharynx All cases are blank  
Other Oral Cavity and Pharynx All cases are blank  
Gallbladder All cases are blank  
Other Biliary All cases are blank  
Retroperitoneum All cases are blank  
Peritoneum, Omentum and Mesentery All cases are blank 1973-1987 all cases are blank
Other Digestive Organs All cases are blank  
Nose, Nasal Cavity and Middle Ear All cases are blank 1973-1982 all cases are blank
Larynx   2004+ all cases are blank 
Lung and Bronchus   1973-1987 all cases are blank
Pleura All cases are blank 1973+ all cases are unstaged
Trachea All cases are blank 2004+ all cases are blank
Bones and Joints All cases are blank  
Other Non-Epithelial Skin All cases are blank  
Ovary  Non-malignant cases are blank  
Vagina All cases are blank 2004+ all cases are blank
Other Female Genital Organs All cases are blank  
Prostate   1973-1994 all cases are blank
1995+ all localized and regional cases coded as “Localized/regional (Prostate cases)”
Penis All cases are blank  
Other Male Genital Organs All cases are blank  
Bladder   1973+ all cases originally staged as in situ are converted to localized
Ureter All cases are blank  
Other Urinary Organs All cases are blank  
Eye and Orbit All cases are blank  
Brain and Other Nervous System Non-malignant cases are blank 1973+ all cases are unstaged
Other Endocrine including Thymus All cases are blank 2004+ all cases are blank
Hodgkin Lymphoma   1973+ all cases are unstaged
NHL   1973+ all cases are unstaged
Myeloma   1973+ all cases are distant
Leukemia All cases are blank  
Mesothelioma All cases are blank 2004+ all cases are blank
Kaposi Sarcoma All cases are blank Not staged
Miscellaneous All cases are blank 1973+ all cases are unstaged

a In databases prior to the November 2018 submission, this field did not have a year range in the name.
b Historic Stage Coding for 2004-2015 (XLS, 355 KB)

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