According to the American Cancer Society’s Cancer Statistics Center, in 2021 there are an estimated 281,500 new cases of female breast cancer and 2,650 estimated new cases of male breast cancer in the United States. 44,130 of those cases are estimated to die of this disease. While these statistics may sound a little scary, there are some steps you can take to be proactive and help…

The AJCC Cancer Staging Manual 8th edition has several disease site chapters noting specific instructions for coding cN0 in the pN category. General instructions regarding coding N are described in Chapter 1. The designation of category use of ‘NX or N0’ resulting in a stage group other than 99, is also discussed.  Node status is NOT required in rare circumstances. If not determined to be positive…

  Breast surgery can diagnose cancer, stage cancer, debulk cancer, cure or palliate cancer. We have close to 50 breast surgery codes and choosing the best one can be a challenge sometimes. Gaining a better understanding can assist with coding.  A Partial Mastectomy is a general term for Breast-Sparing surgery, Lumpectomy, Quadrantectomy, or Segmental Mastectomy, while a Lumpectomy is specifically a wide excision of a tumor…

  The July 2021 CTR Coding Break reviews cytology exceptions outlined in the STORE manual 2021 and the SEER Program Coding and Staging Manual 2021. There are various types of cytological examinations. One example is a fine needle aspiration which uses a thin needle inserted into the lesion or area to remove fluid. This is different from a core needle biopsy which removes tissue to be…