California Cancer Reporting System Standards Volume I: Abstracting and Coding Procedures
In abstracting surgical treatment, the total or partial removal (except an incisional biopsy) of tumor tissue must be recorded in the text field, whether from a primary or metastatic site.
Coding Instructions:
Example: Dissection of non-cancerous lymph nodes if they are part of the first course of treatment.
Shave or punch biopsies are most often diagnostic. Code as a surgical procedure only when the entire tumor is removed and margins are clear.
Brushings, washings, aspiration of cells and peripheral blood smears are not considered surgical procedures, but they might have to be recorded as diagnostic procedures. See Section IV.1.