GYN Malignancy Overview
This is a recap of the GYN malignancy webinar, which provided an overview of common cancers diagnosed in women.
We reviewed the female reproductive system and discussed the solid tumor rules for coding the histology and FIGO stage. We also discussed assigning appropriate SEER Summary Stage 2018 and surgery codes to the primary site. Endometrium, cervix, and ovarian cancers are some of the top common cancers diagnosed in women. Risk factors associated with being diagnosed with GYN cancer can include cigarette smoking, excessive weight, lack of physical activity, and alcohol consumption. Hereditary factors include a family history of cancer, having BRAC1 or BRAC 2 genes, or Lynch Syndrome can increase your risk of being diagnosed with a GYN malignancy.
Cervical cancer is the most common cancer linked to HPV, but other cancers that can be associated with HPV include the vulva, vaginal, penile, anal, mouth, and throat cancers. HPV vaccinations protect against the types of HPV that cause cancers. One of the goals of the World Health Organization, American Cancer Society, and Health People 2030 is to increase HPV vaccination in female adolescents ages 9-12 to help prevent cancer cases by HPV which can affect women and men. Per the Solid Tumor Rules (STRs), p16 is a valid test to determine HPV status. It can be used to code HPV-associated and HPV-independent histologies for cases diagnosed on 1/1/2021 and forward.
FIGO is the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics, a staging system for GYN malignancies. Its mission is to improve women's and girls' health and well-being and reduce disparities in healthcare worldwide. There must be a statement about the FIGO stage from the managing physician to code this data item.
American Cancer Society Facts and Figures for 2025 data reveals a decline in the incidence of cervical cancer, but an increase has been noted in the incidence of women being diagnosed with endometrial cancer. The overall survival for cervix cancer is 67%, uterine corpus 84% and 51% for ovarian cancer. Despite drops in mortality rates, Native Americans and Black Women have higher mortality rates compared to Whites.
FCDS requires grade fields and p16 SSDI’s for GYN cases for staging and prognostically significant for AJCC, NPCR, and SEER. Refer to the FCDS manual, the standard setter rules and the STORE manual to assist you when you abstract GYN cases. Always refer to the STRs Other Site module to determine multiple primaries and to assign the histology codes for GYN malignancies. The SEER Summary Stage is based on imaging, pathology, and operative and clinical assessments, including gross observation during surgery. If you have questions about AJCC Staging, the STORE manual, SSDIs, or coding the Grade, go to the Answer Forum, and for questions related to EOD, heme database, SEER coding, or STRs, refer to SEER SINQ or ask a SEER registrar.
The webinar recording, PowerPoint presentation, and quiz are posted in FLccSC. Visit FLccSC to enroll in the available course and complete the quiz to get a CE certificate. After the quiz is completed, the certificate will be generated in FLccSC.
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