The following head and neck cancer cases are presented to help you abstract the primary site and then code that primary site. Further, the exercises will help you abstract the tumor morphology (histology) and then code the morphology correctly. And finally, these exercises will help you abstract, stage, and code the cases using the three staging systems that are currently in use in various parts of the United States, and the world, namely, SEER Summary Stage, TNM (AJCC/UICC) Sixth Edition (TNM6), and Collaborative Stage.
For the purposes of these exercises, assume that all tests and observations
were performed within 4 months of diagnoses or discharge.
For each case, you are to identify the primary site and code it; identify the
tumor morphology and code it; and then stage each case using the three staging
systems. Note: It is important to identify the correct primary site and the correct
histology before assigning a stage to each case (for example, a lymphoma of the
head and neck would be staged using the lymphoma staging schemes, NOT the head
and neck staging schemes).
When assigning stage to each case, remember the following:
Correct answers to each of the cases are provided. Discussion as to why these are the correct answers is also provided.
Happy abstracting, staging, and coding! Click here to start.