Sequence number is grouped under which abstracting section?

• A. Stage of Disease at Diagnosis
• B. First Course of Treatment
• C. Patient Identification
• D. Cancer Identification

Answer: (C)

Identifying the patient within the registry is the key purpose of this portion of the data collection. The sequence number is used to link and distinguish records that pertain to the same person, especially when more than one cancer diagnosis or record exists for a single patient. It allows each cancer event to be tracked separately while still being tied to the correct patient, ensuring that multiple primaries or successive records don’t get mixed up. This field isn’t about describing the cancer’s characteristics, its stage, or the treatment given—those details live in their respective sections. In practice, you might assign Sequence 1 to the first cancer diagnosis for a patient and Sequence 2 to a second primary, keeping all related data organized under the same patient identity.