Alternate Name	Item#	Length	Source of Standard	Column #
General Summary Stage (SEER/CoC)	760	1	SEER	905-905

Description
Code for summary stage at the initial diagnosis or treatment of the reportable tumor. This has traditionally been used by central registries to monitor time trends. For hospital registries, CoC requires its use in the absence of a defined AJCC classification. For site-specific definitions of categories, see the SEER Summary Staging Guide.

SEER Summary Stage 1977 is limited to information available within 2 months of the date of diagnosis. NAACCR approved extension of this time period to 4 months for prostate tumors diagnosed beginning January 1, 1995.

Rationale
Stage information is important when evaluating the effects of cancer control programs. It is crucial for understanding whether changes over time in incidence rates or outcomes are due to earlier detection of the cancers. In addition, cancer treatment cannot be studied without knowing the stage at diagnosis.

To study historical trends in stage, the coding system must be relatively unchanged (stable) over time. AJCC's TNM system is updated periodically to maintain clinical relevance with changes in diagnosis and treatment. The surveillance registries often rely on the Summary Stage, which they consider to be more "stable." Summary Stage has been in widespread use, either as the primary staging scheme or a secondary scheme, in most central and hospital registries since 1977.

Codes

0	In situ
1	Localized
2	Regional, direct extension only
3	Regional, regional lymph nodes only
4	Regional, direct extension and regional lymph nodes
5	Regional, NOS
7	Distant
8	Not applicable
9	Unstaged

Note: Code 8 has been added in Version 10.1 to be used when there is not an applicable code to reflect stage (e.g., benign brain, borderline ovarian).

Note: See also the item Derived SS1977 [3010] for the value of SEER Summary Stage 1977 as generated by the Collaborative Staging algorithm.

Clarification of NAACCR and NPCR Required Status
Summary stage is required. The correct data item to use (and corresponding code manual) is determined by the year in which the cancer was diagnosed. Tumors diagnosed on or after January 1, 2004, should be assigned a summary stage based upon the Collaborative Stage data item algorithms and retained in Derived SS2000 [3020]. Tumors diagnosed on or after January 1, 2001, should be assigned a summary stage according to the SEER Summary Staging Manual 2000, and the code should be reported in SEER Summary Stage 2000 [759]. Tumors diagnosed before January 1, 2001, should be assigned a summary stage according to SEER Summary Stage Guide 1977, and the code should be reported in SEER Summary Stage 1977 [760].