FIELD E ; Tumor Code 



Columns 18, 19, 20, 21, 



22, 23, 24, and 25 



8. Use of Symbol as a unit or units in constructing tumor symbols 



When any specific, named tumor on this list (i. e. , a tumor demanding an eighth unit in its 

 symbol) is of such a general nature that there is no relation to a specific organ or organ system 

 origin (i. e. , the second and third units of the tumor symbol), the third- -or the second and third- - 

 units are assigned Symbols or 00, respectively. In the same way, if any specific tumor of the list 

 is classified histologically (i. e. , the fourth to the sixth units) so that less than three units are needed, 

 the sixth, or both the fifth and sixth, or all three places are assigned Symbol (i. e. , 0, 00, or 000, 

 respectively). 



A specific and named tumor for which no histological or organic information exists may be 

 added to the Tumor Code and assigned a symbol with any or all of the second through the seventh 

 units being Symbol and with a distinguishing symbol as the eighth unit, so that this specific tumor 

 will have a symbol with the full complement of eight units, indicating a distinct and specific tumor. 

 Example: Sarcoma M4 (S0040001). (Notice that in coding tumor data in which the tumor is not named 

 as a specific, unique, transmissible tumor, that tumor is not added to the Tumor Code and no specific 

 symbol is assigned to it. It is coded merely as being a tumor, Symbol S, in the first column of Field 

 E, with the other seven places blank, or as a tumor of a specific organ [the first three places only, of 

 Field E], or as a tumor of a specific tissue type [the first and the fourth places only], etc. ) 



9. CBCC Tumor Code: an initial and representative list; responsibility in making permanent 

 additions 



Although this is a more extensive listing of tumors than would be represented by those for 

 which the CBCC has actually found test data, it does not, on the other hand, pretend to be an exhaus- 

 tive list of known, named tumors nor of tumor types. New tumors, however, can be added to the list 

 and symbols can be constructed for them in the same way as tumors have been added in the past. 



It should be understood that construction of new symbols for the Tumor Code (or, for that 

 matter, for the Pathology Code or the Taxonomy Code of Field E), is itself a coding procedure. The 

 symbol that is assigned to any given specific tumor must have correctly incorporated into it, at the 

 time of its construction , all the information about the tumor that it is possible to obtain. This may 

 occasionally involve an elementary literature search or correspondence with the author of the data 

 mentioning the new tumor, or with an authoritative source of tumor information in general. (E. g. , if 

 a tumor is added to the code at a time when information about its tissue origin is not at hand and the 

 tissue origin code unit of the tumor symbol is assigned merely a series of Symbols 0, and then, if one 

 year later information about the tumor's tissue origin ^s learned, the tumor symbol cannot be changed 

 without recalling all coded chemical- biological data with which that tumor symbol had been used and 

 altering each tumor code entry. ) 



The list of tumor symbols included in the Code were for the most part constructed by using 

 information assembled by Dr. Lucia J. Dunham and Dr. Harold L. Stewart and published in 1953. (A 

 Survey of Transplantable and Transmissible Tumors; Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 13, 

 No. 5, April 1953, pp 1299-1377. ) The authors pointed out in their introduction that it represented a 

 first attempt and that subsequent information might be expected to reveal omissions. The CBCC code 

 symbols for tumors of this list should always be reassessed in the light of any new information and 

 appropriate changes should be made for any discrepancies with that new information. 



It should be specifically understood that the pattern for constructing tumor code symbols is 

 not intended merely for these transplantable and transmissible animal tumors. The objective has been 

 to provide a scheme for coding any tumor. It is assumed that any tumor (including spontaneous tumors 

 of clinical data) can be designated in Field E by constructing a symbol of seven or less digits (if it 

 is not a specific, named, transplantable form) or of eight digits (if it is a specific, named, trans- 

 plantable form), which will designate organ and tissue origin, when known. Many general types 

 have already been included in the list (i. e. , any of the items which are not actually named trans- 

 plantable tumors), in the process of its organization. 



37 



