DATE OF DIAGNOSIS NAACCR Item # 390Effective 2/1/2011

Records the date of initial diagnosis by a Health Care Professional for the tumor being reported.

Instructions for Coding

• Use the first date of diagnosis whether clinically or histologically confirmed.

• If the physician states that in retrospect the patient had cancer at an earlier date, use the earlierdate

as the date of diagnosis.

• Use the date therapy was started as the date of diagnosis if the patient receives a first course oftreatment

before a definitive diagnosis.

• The date of death is the date of diagnosis for a Class of Case 49.

• Avoid using code 9’s unknown for month, day or year.

Use all information in the medical records to estimate the date of diagnosis if the exact date cannot be determined.The date of initial diagnosis is the month, day, and year that this primarycancer was first diagnosed by a recognized medical practitioner. If estimated, clearly document in the text that the diagnosis date is estimated.

Class of Case (COC) 30, 31,32, 33, 40, 41, 42, 43 should have an accurate or estimated date of diagnosis using the following guidelines:

Accurate Diagnosis Date / First date of cancer diagnosis or suspicion of cancer stated by physician, scan, pathology report. Refer to List of Ambiguous Diagnostic Terms
Staging Work Up / Estimate diagnosis date 1 to 2 weeks before work up date for port, scans, labs: COC 30, 31
Treatment Date / Estimate diagnosis four weeks before first treatment date (non-surgical)
Month of Diagnosis
Spring: / April
Summer: / July
Middle of Year / July
Fall/Autumn: / October
Winter / Best information to estimate either December or January
Early in Year / January
Late in Year / December
Couple of weeks/months ago / 2 weeks/months prior to admission date
Few weeks/months ago / 3 weeks/months prior to admission date
Several weeks/months ago / 4 weeks prior to admission date
Diagnosed X months ago / X months prior to admission date
Year of Diagnosis:
Couple of years / Subtract 2 yrs from admission date
Few years / Subtract 3 years from admission date
Several years ago / Subtract 4 years from admission date
Documented “Years ago” / Document as best as possible. Code 99 if cannot be estimated. COC 32, 33.
Site C22_, C24_, C25_, C38_ / Estimate date within 1 year of admission if COC 32, 33. Contact physician if possible.
Sites C15_, C16_ and C34_, C71_ / Estimate date within 2 years of admission if COC 32, 33. Contact physician if possible.

If no information about the date of diagnosis is available and the above guidelines cannot be used to estimate a date:

1) Use the date of admission as the date of diagnosis.

2) In the absence of an admission date, code the date of first surgical treatment as the date of diagnosis.