Summary staging is the most basic way of categorizing how far a cancer has spread from its point of origin. Summary staging has also been called General Staging, California Staging, and SEER Staging. The 2000 version of Summary Stage applies to every anatomic site, including the lymphomas and leukemias. Summary staging uses all information available in the medical record; in other words, it is a combination of the most precise clinical and pathological documentation of the extent of disease.

The manual provided here contains the codes and coding instructions for the summary stage field for cases diagnosed January 1, 2001 and forward. The North American Association of Central Cancer Registries has developed Guidelines for Implementation of SEER Summary Stage 2000External Web Site Policy.

The chapters of this manual are provided below as individual files and as a single PDF. The errata and updates have been incorporated into the complete manual and the individual PDF files.

Updates and Errata

Manual Sections

Complete SEER Summary Staging Manual - 2000 (PDF, 3.4 MB) (updated 12/2012)

Suggested Citation

Young JL Jr, Roffers SD, Ries LAG, Fritz AG, Hurlbut AA (eds). SEER Summary Staging Manual - 2000: Codes and Coding Instructions, National Cancer Institute, NIH Pub. No. 01-4969, Bethesda, MD, 2001.

Copyright Information

All material in this report with the exception of copyrighted illustrations is in the public domain and may be reproduced or copied without permission; citation as to source, however, is appreciated.