Copyright
The Commission on Cancer is pleased to provide this complimentary copy of FORDS: Revised for 2007 for your individual use. Please understand, however, that this information is the copyrighted property of the Commission on Cancer of the American College of Surgeons. Any use of this material outside of its original format or context requires permission from the Commission on Cancer.
FORDS: Revised for 2007
This edition incorporates new items for tracking multiple primaries, identifying ambiguous terminology at diagnosis, and recording the National Provider Identifier (NPI) numbers for facilities and physicians.
For most purposes, this version of FORDS should replace all earlier editions. That is because item descriptions indicate when new items should replace obsolete ones, and this update makes clarifications where questions arose in the past. Note, however, that the rules for determining multiple primary tumors for cases diagnosed prior to 2007 as they appeared in FORDS: Revised for 2004, updated for use in 2006, are still to be applied.
We strongly encourage you to read the Preface and review Appendix C for an explanation of the changes made to this revision of FORDS.
Using the Electronic Manual With an Adobe Reader
Have you ever wished you could highlight your electronic copy of FORDS or add a yellow sticky note? Now you can. This manual enables users to utilize the Commenting and Highlighting feature available in Adobe Reader. The free Reader software gives you the ability to highlight text and add sticky notes to any of the pages within the manual once it is saved to your computer.
In addition, as of June 2007, the Complete Manual and individual section files each contain a full list of bookmarks to help you navigate the documents easily.
Print the Manual
Update 2008
Due to changes made to the CoC’s Cancer Program Standards regarding requirements for physician staging and the recording of that staging information in the cancer registry, additional clarifications and specifications regarding the coding requirements for clinical and pathological AJCC Stage (T,N,M) elements have been made to the FORDS manual.
Revisions for the pages/sections in the FORDS manual affected by these changes are provided here—Section One: AJCC Staging; Section Two: AJCC TNM Staging Items; and Appendix C: Documented Page Revisions. All pages are noted with the revision date of 01/01/08.
These changes are effective for cases diagnosed on or after January 1, 2008.
Section One - AJCC Staging, pp. 20-1 (30K PDF) 1/25/08
Section Two - AJCC TNM Staging Items, pp. 112-23 (140K PDF) 1/25/08
Appendix C - Documented Page Revisions, pp. 289, 290, 295-97 (40K PDF) 12/03/07
NOTE: These pages will print singled-sided and are intended to be slipped into the FORDS manual. More formal “update” files will be available in 2008 for printing.
Update 2007a
These documents contain the pages that have been updated since January 2007. Note that because these pages are double-sided, the reverse side pages are included to facilitate printing. This is not intended to be used as an electronic document.
Update 2007a (300K PDF) 7/26/07
Summary of Changes in Update (40K PDF) 7/26/07
Corrected Page 99G (12K PDF) 7/26/07
Complete Manual
FORDS Manual—includes all updates and revisions (1370K PDF) 7/26/07
Individual Sections
Front Cover, Table of Contents, Preface (125K PDF) 6/13/07
Section One: Case Eligibility and Overview of Coding Principles (260K PDF) 6/13/07
Section Two: Coding Instructions
Appendix A: Definitions of Single and Subsequent Primaries for Hematologic Malignancies (115K PDF)
Appendix B: Site-Specific Surgery Codes (80K PDF)
Appendix C: FORDS Page Revisions (110K PDF) 6/13/07
Index (50K PDF)
Back Cover (565K PDF)
Order a Manual
Hard copies of the FORDS manual are available online through the ACoS Publications Catalog. Note: The hard copy DOES NOT include Updates to the manual. You will need to print the online Update pages and insert them into the manual. Price: $45.
Earlier versions of CoC registry coding manuals are available online.
Revised January 25, 2008
