The April 2022 CTR Coding Break titled STORE Manual 2022 New Breast Data Items discusses the definitions and details of four new data fields related to breast surgeries. Rx Hosp data fields are for this facility only while Rx Summ data fields are for any facility. These four data items are collected for breast cases diagnosed from January 1, 2022, to December 31, 2022. If the…

In this month’s CTR Coding Break we will discuss the Usual Occupation and Industry fields. We will review the importance of collecting this information, go over the definition of each field along with some examples, take a short quiz, and finally, we will go over a few common errors.  Because this information is collected by cancer prevention programs and researchers it can be helpful in many…

The January 2022 CTR Coding Break titled Ablation & Embolization Treatment talks about some lesser-used types of treatments for various kinds of cancers. Thermal ablation such as radiofrequency ablation and microwave therapy use image guidance and heat energy. Laser ablation uses heat or a focused light to shrink or destroy a tumor while cryoablation uses extreme cold therapy to freeze tissue and cause treated cells to…

The December 2021 CTR Coding Break summarizes the AJCC TNM Staging System: Categories, General Rules for Staging, and Classifications found in the AJCC 8th Edition and described in Chapter 1 – Principles for Cancer Staging. The AJCC TNM staging for each cancer type is put together by defining the size and extent of cancer for the tumor (T), the number of nearby lymph nodes that have…