Tips for Assigning Summary Stage

• Rule out in situ (Tis) stage
• Rule out distant disease
• Rule out that cancer is “confined to the organ of origin”
• If in situ, localized and distant are ruled out, the stage is regional
  • If lymph nodes are involved, stage is 3 or 4
  • Code 5 (Regional, NOS) is no longer a valid code for cases diagnosed 1/1/2018 and forward. Code 5 is still valid for cases diagnosed prior to 2018
• Each Summary Stage chapter has the most common organs and lymph nodes listed in one of the codes

Updated: November 5, 2024