CATR 130 - Cancer Disease Coding and Staging

3 Credits
This course provides students an overview of cancer as a disease including the pathophysiology. Students will be introduced to oncology coding and staging systems with a general overview of the International Classification of Diseases for Oncology terminology and classification system (ICD-O). Students will be introduced to the Solid Tumor Rules, Extent of Disease, American Joint Committee on Cancer (AJCC) Cancer Staging and Summary Stage. Students will apply these guidelines to code cancer scenarios from medical record documentation.

Grade Note(s): A grade of C or better is required to pass this course successfully.
Prerequisite(s): BIOL 115, BIOL 116
Corequisite(s): CATR 110
Course Learning Outcomes:
1. Determine the appropriate stage of the tumor using all three staging methods.
2. Determine multiple primary cancers.
3. Evaluate the components of the major staging systems, using established rules including AJCC TNM Cancer Staging.
4. Identify the appropriate primary site, morphology, and behavior codes from review of pathology reports and other source documents.
5. Apply site-specific rules for accurate coding and staging of major cancer sites.
6. Identify the pathological considerations of the cancer disease process.
7. Explain the coding methodology used in the International Classification of Diseases Third Edition ICD-O-3 for topography primary site and morphology histologic tumor type.