California Cancer Reporting System Standards Volume I: Abstracting and Coding Procedures for Hospitals
In determining whether a Benign/Borderline Brain and CNS are reportable, the basic criterion is a diagnosis of cancer by a physician, surgeon, or dentist, even if it is not pathologically confirmed.
For vague and ambiguous diagnostic terms, see Section II.2.4.
A positive pathology report takes precedence over any other report or statement in a patient's chart.
In case of doubt about the reportability of a tumor, contact the hospital's regional registry for advice.
For benign and borderline brain and CNS tumors, there must
be a corresponding ICD-0-3 histology code for any CNS
tumor-related diagnosis.
The terms "tumor" and "neoplasm" are diagnostic and reportable for non-malignant brain and CNS primaries.
The terms "mass" and "lesion" are not reportable for non-malignant brain and CNS primaries, but may be used for initial casefinding purposes.
The terms "hypodense mass" or "cystic neoplasm" are not reportable even for CNS tumors.
See Section II.2.7 Benign/Borderline Brain and CNS Tumors