Facility Oncology Registry Data Standards (FORDS): Revised for 2012
Copyright
The Commission on Cancer is pleased to provide this complimentary copy of FORDS: Revised for 2012 for your individual use. Please understand, however, that this information is the copyrighted property of the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons. Any use of this material outside of its original format or context requires permission from the Commission on Cancer. You may print a copy for your own use.
FORDS: Revised for 2012
This version of FORDS replaces all previous versions. Registries are encouraged to read the Preface and review Appendix C for an overview of the 2012 changes. The most substantial changes in this edition are to coding instructions:
- Grade: See Section I (Morphology: Grade) for new instructions for determining which Grade items require coding, depending on the type of case. Grade items include cell lineage for hematopoietic and lymphatic tumors, CS special grade items, Grade Path System and Grade Path Value, and Grade/Differentiation.
- Sentinel Lymph Node Biopsy: See the item descriptions in Section II for Scope of Regional Lymph Node Surgery and Scope of Regional Lymph Node Surgery at This Facility. These items are to be coded from the operative report, not from the pathology report. Specific additional instructions are provided for breast primaries. See the link below for more information about this important change. Neither CoC nor other standard setters are asking registries to recode cases diagnosed prior to 2012, due to the large number of cases affected.
Other major changes in FORDS: Revised for 2012 include the following:
- The Multiple Primary data items are now defined in FORDS rather than in the SEER Multiple Primary and Histology coding manual.
- Instructions to code repeat surgeries cumulatively are clarified.
- New codes were added to the two items, Radiation/Surgery Sequence and Systemic/Surgery Sequence.
- Networks are reminded that Facility Identification Number (FIN) and Archive FIN apply to the hospital, not to the full network, in registry data. Archive FIN is the facility’s FIN at the time the cancer was first accessioned by the facility, and is only different from the FIN if a change in FIN is caused by a hospital merger.
All items in FORDS are required for CoC accredited cancer programs. Supplementary references are necessary for coding AJCC, collaborative stage, multiple primaries and histologies, hematopoietic tumors, and systemic agents.
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Complete Manual
FORDS: Revised for 2012 (15750K PDF) 4/9/12
Changes introduced since January 1, 2011, are described in Appendix C.
Change in Coding "Scope Regional Lymph Node Surgery" (60K PDF) 3/13/12
Problems with the coding directives for the item “Scope Regional Lymph Node Surgery” were identified in April 2011. This document provides background describing the origin and scope of the problem, how each agency plans to address the issue moving forward, and the changes in coding instructions for items RX Hosp--Scope Reg LN Sur (NAACCR Item # 672) and RX Summ--Scope Reg LN Sur (NAACCR Item # 1292).
New instructions and clarifications to guide the coding for this data element for implementation for cases diagnosed January 1, 2012 and later are included in this document.
Earlier versions of CoC registry coding manuals are available online.
Revised April 9, 2012