Question: Our pathologist examined a bilateral oophorectomy specimen and diagnosed epithelial ovarian cancer in both ovaries. Is it true that there’s not a specific ICD-10-CM code for bilateral ovarian cancer?
Illinois Subscriber
Answer: Although there was no single, specific ICD-10-CM code for bilateral ovarian cancer in the past, that changed with the Oct. 1, 2021, update to the code set.
Before the update you had two ovarian cancer codes: C56.1 (Malignant neoplasm of right ovary) and C56.2 (Malignant neoplasm of left ovary).
With the update, you now have a new ovarian cancer code that you can use to report bilateral ovarian cancer: C56.3 (Malignant neoplasm of bilateral ovaries).
Additional: The C56.- (Malignant neoplasm of ovary) codes all carry a “use additional code” instruction that directs you to report any functional activity. This means adding codes, when appropriate, for conditions such as:
Related: You also have another new code, C79.63 (Secondary malignant neoplasm of bilateral ovaries), to report cancer that has metastasized to both ovaries.
