Esophagus Cancer ICD 10 Code

Refresher: What are ICD-10 codes?

The ICD-10, short for the International Classification of Diseases, is a collection of data that tracks various public health diseases, including primary and secondary cancers. As the term suggests, the ICD-10 is now in its tenth revision and is routinely updated with new codes for different healthcare conditions [¹].

There are over 67,000 ICD-10-CM codes available for diagnosis, a noticeable upgrade from approximately 14,000 codes in the previous ICD-9-CM. Note that the acronym “CM” simply means clinical modification, showing that the healthcare organizations in the US clinically modified the ICD-10 for diagnosis and billing systems. In essence, there is virtually no difference between the ICD-10 and the ICD-10-CM.

The increased specificity of ICD-10-CM codes is highly beneficial to both medical practitioners and patients because it allows for accurate diagnosis of diseases and their treatment.

You may have also come across ICD-10-PCS. This classification system has about 87,000 codes and is only applicable for inpatient, hospital settings in the US.

What is the ICD 10 code for Esophagus Cancer?

For primary esophagus cancer tumors, the general ICD-10 code is C15 (malignant neoplasm of the esophagus), whereas for secondary or metastatic tumors, the ICD-10 code is C78.89 (secondary malignant neoplasm of the esophagus) [²].

Primary Esophagus Cancer ICD 10 code: C15

Primary Esophagus Cancer ICD code C15 lookup

Below is a table of the ICD 10 esophagus cancer codes for primary esophagus cancers, which are classified under C15, “malignant neoplasm of the esophagus” [³].

C15: Malignant neoplasm of the esophagus

Esophagus cancer is relatively rare and only accounts for about 1% of all cancer cases in the US. In fact, only 4 in 100,000 people will be affected by esophageal cancer. It has been shown that esophagus cancer is more common in other parts of the world [⁴].

With that said esophageal cancer can be difficult to treat, especially if it is not diagnosed at an early stage. The five year survival rate for esophageal cancer is only about 205%, with survival rates often ranging from 5% to 47%.

The symptoms of esophageal cancer include [⁵]:

• The sensation of burning or pressure in the chest
• Indigestion
• Heartburn
• Vomiting
• Choking on food
• Difficulty or pain when trying to swallow food
• Sudden weight loss that is unexplainable
• Coughing
• Hoarseness
• Pain in the breastbone

These symptoms will gradually worsen with time, making it difficult to swallow food as the esophagus becomes more constrictive from growing cancer. It is important to get the cancer treated as soon as possible.

The most common way of diagnosing esophagus cancer is with an upper endoscopy. This would allow doctors to detect any abnormalities along the lining of the esophagus. If any suspicious growth is detected, the doctor may collect a tissue sample for further analysis (biopsy). In addition, an X-ray examination may also be used to detect esophagus cancer. The patient will be asked to swallow barium to reveal any abnormalities in the esophagus.

Surgery is the most common treatment option for esophagus cancer. It is necessary to treat cancer as early as possible before it has a chance of spreading to other parts of the body.

Types of esophagus cancer coded under C15

The ICD 10 code C15 does not specify the subtype of esophagus cancer. A C15 code can be used for primary malignant neoplasm of the esophagus of various cell types:

• Adenocarcinoma affects the upper third of the esophagus
• Cervical cancer of the esophagus
• Cancer of the esophagus, upper third
• Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the upper third of the esophagus
• Squamous cell carcinoma of the upper third of the esophagus
• Primary adenocarcinoma of the upper third of the esophagus
• Adenocarcinoma of the middle third of the esophagus
• Thoracic cancer of the esophagus
• Primary malignant neoplasm of the middle third of the esophagus
• Squamous cell carcinoma of the middle third of the esophagus
• Primary malignant neoplasm of the cervical esophagus
• Adenocarcinoma, cancer distal third of the esophagus
• Cancer of the esophagus, lower third
• Cancer of the esophagus, abdominal
• Primary adenocarcinoma of the distal third of the esophagus
• Primary malignant neoplasm of the abdominal esophagus
• Primary malignant neoplasm of the lower third of the esophagus
• Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the lower third of the esophagus
• Squamous cell carcinoma of the lower third of the esophagus
• Adenocarcinoma of overlapping sites of the esophagus
• Cancer of the esophagus of overlapping sites
• Overlapping primary adenocarcinoma of the esophagus
• Overlapping malignant neoplasm of the esophagus
• Overlapping primary squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus
• Squamous cell carcinoma of the overlapping sites of the esophagus
• Esophageal cancer metastatic to unspecified site
• Metastasis from malignant tumor of the esophagus
• Primary malignant neoplasm of the esophagus
• Squamous cell carcinoma of the esophagus

In other words, Squamous cell carcinoma of the overlapping sites of the esophagus ICD 10, and Primary squamous cell carcinoma of the upper third of the esophagus ICD 10 codes could all be C15 if they are determined to be primary malignant neoplasia of the esophagus. As a concrete example, a patient diagnosed with Squamous cell carcinoma of the middle third of the esophagus, with a tumor found in the esophagus, would be coded with C15.4.

A quick comparison of the ICD-10 with the ICD-9 shows that the former allows for greater accuracy and specificity when helping doctors diagnose various diseases. This is important not just for comparing mortality statistics but also for improving the quality of life for patients. Thanks to greater consistency across different healthcare organizations, patients also have the ability to undergo treatment under multiple physicians.

The ICD-10 also aims to make the collection, storage, and retrieval of medical histories easy for patients. The consistent and organized manner of data collection empowers physicians from different healthcare organizations to know if the malignant neoplasm is in the upper third of the esophagus or the middle third.

There are a few disadvantages of using the ICD-10 system. Firstly, upgrading from ICD-9 to ICD-10 is not simple for businesses due to the long investment and waiting times required. While the systems are being updated, healthcare organizations may notice a decline in productivity until their systems are updated to ICD-10 and back online.

Secondly, healthcare professionals and coders will be required to upgrade their certifications so they can use ICD-10 systems. This would require each individual to spend considerable resources, including time, attending classes and seminars. It is worth mentioning that taking an exam for the ICD-10 alone can be expensive.

Finally, switching to the ICD-10-CM billing system is an expensive process, and service providers charge a premium for facilitating the upgrade. Healthcare organizations that may not have a sizable budget will struggle to justify spending the amount needed for the upgrade.

Another problem with the ICD-10-CM system is that, while it is highly accurate, there is a risk of miscoding different types of diseases. Using the ICD-10 means that medical coders will need to process huge volumes of data. This can introduce human errors into the process, making it likely for an inexperienced medical coder to misidentify different diseases.

For example, one can miscode cancer of the upper third of the esophagus with cancer of the middle third of the esophagus. This can have devastating consequences for the patient and interfere with their treatment. The lack of accuracy may also expose the patient to several side effects of treatments that they may not need.

Esophagus cancers excluded from ICD-10 C15

There are no esophagus cancers excluded from ICD-10 C15.

Secondary and metastatic esophagus cancer ICD 10 code: C78.89

Secondary or metastatic esophagus cancer ICD-10 code C78.89 lookup

The ICD 10 esophagus cancer codes for secondary esophagus and metastatic esophagus cancers, or esophagus cancers that have metastasized from other origins, are C78.89, “Secondary malignant neoplasm of the esophagus” [⁶]

Note that the code C78.89 includes various types of metastatic cancers, including, the following:

• Cancer metastatic to digestive organs
• Cancer metastatic to the pancreas
• Cancer metastasis to the stomach
• Cancer metastatic to the spleen
• Cancer metastatic to the gallbladder

Conclusion

The ICD-10 code for esophagus cancer is C15. Upgrading to the new coding system would empower healthcare professionals and coders with the ability to make detailed diagnostics of malignant neoplasms of the esophagus.

Please note that the information mentioned in this article is only meant to be used for reference purposes. If you experience any symptoms of esophagus cancer, you should immediately consult a medical healthcare professional for further analysis, including any questions you may have about the ICD-10 C15 code discussed above.