On this page

Data items for all cancers

Data items for all cancers Notes
Health care user (HCU) number Unique patient identifier, also known as National Health Index (NHI) number. Restricted access.
Name Restricted access.
Date of birth Day, month, year
Date of death Day, month, year
Address Restricted access.
Domicile code A code based on Statistics New Zealand Census Area Unit.  
Sex Male, female, indeterminate, unknown
Ethnicity Ethnicity information is sourced from the NHI, the Mortality Collection and the National Minimum Dataset (containing hospitalisation data). 
Age Age in years at date of diagnosis.
Diagnosis date Sourced from pathology reports, hospital admission date (from the National Minimum Dataset) and the Mortality Collection.
Registration source code A code identifying the initial source of the registration.  Introduced in 2001.
Site code ICD-10-AM (International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Australian Modification) code identifying the site of origin of the tumour.
Morphology code ICD-O (International Classification of Diseases, Oncology) code identifying the histology (cell type) of the tumour. 
Behaviour code A code identifying how the tumour acts within the body: in situ, primary invasive or metastatic malignancy. Introduced in September 2008.
Grade of tumour code A code specifying the differentiation of the tumour: how much or how little it resembles the normal tissue from which it arose.  Introduced in 1998.
Basis of diagnosis code A code specifying the source of the diagnosis, e.g. death certificate, clinical diagnosis, histology or cytology.
Extent of disease code  A code describing the stage of development reached by the tumour at diagnosis.
Laboratory code A code identifying the laboratory that diagnosed and reported the cancer.
Facility code A code identifying the healthcare facility where the cancer was diagnosed or treated.
Laterality code This code is only relevant for paired organs. It indicates which side of the body the affected organ is located on. Introduced in 1998 for the breast, and in September 2008 for other paired organs.
TNM codes TNM codes indicate the presence, or absence, of distant metastases, as classified by TNM (a staging system including Tumour size, Nodes, and Metastases which are specific to the site).  Introduced in 2001.
Nodal status fields Several fields which together indicate whether lymph nodes were tested and how many nodes were found to have metastases.  Introduced in 2001 for colorectal cancers and in September 2008 for other cancers.
Multiple tumours flag A flag indicating cancer events considered multiple tumours according to the WHO recommended classification.
Clinical notes Text field containing supplementary information about the cancer registration. Introduced 2001.
Cancer group code A code identifying the group to which the cancer event belongs. Introduced in 2001 for administrative use only.

Breast data items

Breast data items Notes
Histopathology code Morphology code descriptions as used by BreastScreen Aotearoa.  Introduced in 1998. Mandatory since 2002.
Size of tumour The size of the tumour at the widest point, expressed in millimetres. Introduced in 1998.  Rounded to the nearest millimetre before 2008.
Resection margin The distance in millimetres between the tumour and the closest resection margin.  Introduced in 1998.  Rounded to the nearest millimetre before 2008.
ER status A code specifying whether the tumour is oestrogen receptive (ER) or not. Introduced in 2001.
PR status A code specifying whether the tumours is progesterone receptive (PR) or not.  Introduced in 2001.
Her2 status A code specifying the human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (Her2) status of the tumour.  Introduced in September 2008.
Her2 test type A code specifying the type of human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (Her2) test used to determine the Her2 status of the tumour.  Introduced September 2008.
Lymphovascular invasion flag A flag indicating lymphovascular invasion by the tumour.  Introduced in 2001.
Multicentric or multifocal tumour flag A flag indicating whether the tumour is either multicentric or multifocal, or neither.  Introduced in 2001.
Sentinel nodes fields Two fields which together indicate how many sentinel nodes were tested and how many were found to have metastases.  Introduced in September 2008.

Colorectal data items

Colorectal data items Notes
ACPS system code* A code specifying the extent of the colorectal tumour at diagnosis, based on the ACP (Australian ClinicoPathological) staging system.  Introduced in 2001.
Astler and Coller staging system code* A code specifying the extent of the colorectal tumour at diagnosis, based on the Astler and Coller staging system.  Introduced in 2001.
Duke's staging system code* A code specifying the extent of the colorectal tumour at diagnosis, based on the Duke's staging system.  Introduced in 2001.
Haggitt's staging system code A code specifying the degree of infiltration from a malignant polypoidal lesion in the colon or rectum, based on the Haggitt's staging system. Introduced in 2016.
Kikuchi's staging system code A code describing the degree of infiltration of a sessile early invasive colorectal cancer, based on the Kikuchi's staging system. Introduced in 2016.
Level of direct spread A text field denoting the level of direct spread of the tumour.  Introduced in 2001.

Gynaecology data items

Gynaecology data items Notes
FIGO staging code The FIGO staging system was developed for cervical cancers by the International Federation of Gynaecological Oncologists (FIGO).  Introduced in 2001.
Date of histology Date of first histology report confirming invasive cancer, especially for cervical cancers. Introduced in 2008.
Additional information A text field containing supplementary information on the nature of the tumour, e.g. size of the cervical tumour. Introduced in 2001.

Melanoma data items

Melanoma data items Notes
Breslow thickness  A measurement of the total vertical height, in millimetres, of a primary melanoma of skin. Introduced in 1995.
Clark level code A code describing the extent  of invasion of a primary melanoma of the skin.  Introduced in 2001.
Ulceration code A flag identifying whether or not the melanoma is ulcerated.
Mitotic rate A measure of how fast cancer cells are dividing. In melanoma the mitotic rate is the number of dividing cells per square millimetre (mm2) of the invasive melanoma.
Resection margin Distance in millimetres between the melanoma and the closest resection margin.

Prostate data items

Prostate data items Notes
Gleason primary pattern code A code defining the dominant pattern of histological differentiation.  
Gleason secondary pattern code A code defining the second most dominant pattern of histological differentiation.
Gleason score The addition of the primary and secondary Gleason pattern codes, subject to editing rules.

Respiratory data item

Respiratory data item Notes
Epidermal Growth Factor 
Receptor (EGFR) mutation analysis		 Records positive or negative finding for EGFR mutation. Helps guide the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer. Introduced in 2016.