California Cancer Reporting System Standards Volume I: Abstracting and Coding Procedures
Pediatric staging refers to cancer staging that is specific to pediatric patients, which may differ in some instances from staging of adult cancers. Pediatric Stage includes patients who are younger than twenty (20) years of age.
Common pediatric cancers are often managed using clinical protocols and are treated in pediatric centers. Many pediatric cancers are staged using specialized systems which are histology and tumor site driven per clinical trials.
However, some pediatric cancers can be staged using the AJCC TNM staging system. Example: Lymphoma in pediatric patients is staged using the same scheme as that for adults.
If AJCC staging is used to stage a pediatric case, refer to the most current AJCC Cancer Staging Manual for coding instructions.
When Summary Stage is used, refer to the most current SEER Summary Stage Manual for coding instructions.
In the event another staging system is used, please specify the staging method used.
Document the stage and method used in the stage text field.