Surgery of Primary Site

See the current version of the SEER Program Coding Manual under Reporting Guidelines, Section VII: First Course of Therapy for complete coding instructions for the surgery data items or Appendix C of the current version of the SEER Program Coding Manual for a complete listing of the bladder surgery codes and their descriptions.

Surgery is the most common treatment for bladder cancers. The different types of surgery are listed below.

Surgical Procedure Comments
Intravesical instillations of bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG)
  • Also coded as BRM, immunotherapy
 A type of biologic therapy used to treat early-stage bladder cancer. The solution is made from a weakened form of a bacterium called Mycobacterium bovis (bacillus Calmette-Guérin) that does not cause disease. It is given through a catheter that is placed into the bladder where the solution is held for about two hours. Bacillus Calmette-Guérin solution may help the body’s immune system kill cancer cells.
Transurethral resection (TUR) or Transurethral resection of the bladder (TURB) Most common and conservative form of management
Partial Cystectomy (Segmental, Subtotal) Removes part of the bladder
Simple/total/complete cystectomy Removes the entire bladder only
Radical cystectomy Removal of the whole bladder as well as nearby tissues and organs

Document surgery details in NAACCR Item # 2610: Text-Dx Proc-Surg

Updated: April 22, 2025