This page outlines the standard NDRS cancer groupings which are used across our routine publications. Most publications use the ‘NDRS main’ and ‘NDRS detailed’ definitions for cancer group, where ‘NDRS main’ is a broad group such as ‘Testes’, or ‘Lung’, and ‘NDRS detailed’ gives subgroups for such sites. A few of our publications use slightly different definitions, based on ICD-10 only, which are defined by ‘Other main’ and ‘Other detailed’. Each publication should state which definitions it uses for cancer groups. The Get Data Out project uses its own headline groups which are often broader groups than the NDRS main groups (but with the same cancer site definitions).
The ‘NDRS main’ and ‘NDRS detailed’ groupings are defined in the sections below. The ‘Other main’ and ‘Other detailed’ groups are defined in the table below this, and the Get Data Out (GDO) headline groups are defined at the bottom of the page. Note that these definitions correspond to the data as it was for the end of year snapshot CAS2507, or AV2023.
The cancer groups are listed alphabetically with the exception of the final three groups, ‘Other malignant’, ‘Ungrouped in situ tumours’, and ‘Ungrouped uncertain/unknown behaviour tumours’. NDRS do not publish on these groups but they are used internally to ensure that every registration falls into a group. The links below can be used to skip to the NDRS main/detailed definition for a certain cancer site.
Anus
Bladder
Blood cancer
(haematological neoplasms)
Bone
Bowel
Brain
Breast
Cancer of unknown primary
Cervix
Endocrine glands excluding
brain
Eye
Head and neck
Heart,
mediastinum, pleura, other and ill-defined respiratory disease
Kaposi sarcoma
Kidney
Liver and biliary tract
Lung
Mesothelioma
Oesophagus
Ovary
Pancreas
Prostate
Renal pelvis and ureter
Sarcoma
Skin cancer
Small intestine
Soft tissue
Stomach
Testes
Thymus
Urethra
Uterus
Vagina
Other malignant
Ungrouped in situ tumours
Ungrouped
uncertain/unknown behaviour tumours
The NRDS main and detailed anus groups are defined in ICD-10 as C21.
The NDRS main bladder group is defined in ICD-10 as C67, D090, and D414. The NDRS detailed bladder groups are defined using ICD-10 site code, ICD-O2 behaviour code, ICD-O3 morphology code, overall stage (Stage best) and the T component of stage (T best) as in the table below.
The NDRS main blood cancer (haematological neoplasms) group is defined predominantly in ICD-O3 by a list of distinct morphology and behaviour codes. The definition also includes morphology code 8000 when it is associated with an ICD-10 site code of C969 or D479, with ICD-O3 behaviour code 3 or 1, respectively. The full definition is in the table below, where the NDRS detailed blood cancer (haematological neoplasms) groups are also defined. Blood cancer (haematological neoplasms) transformations (such as an acute myeloid leukaemia case which has transformed from a myelodysplastic syndrome) are not included in this definition of blood cancer (haematological neoplasms). For more information on transformations, see the Get Data Out haematological neoplasm transformations page.
The NRDS main and detailed bone groups are defined in ICD-10 as C40-C41.
The NDRS main bowel group is defined in ICD-10 as C18-C20. The NDRS detailed bowel groups are defined in the table below. Note that, in some publications, the bowel group may be referred to as colorectal cancer.
The NDRS main brain group is defined in ICD-10 and ICD-O3 as C70-C72, C751-C753, D32-D33, D352-D354, D42-D43, D443-D445, and D18, where the ICD-O3 site code associated with the ICD-10 D18 cases is one of C70, C71, or C72. The NDRS detailed brain groups are defined in the table below.
The NDRS main and detailed breast groups are defined in ICD-10 as C50.
The NDRS main cancer of unknown primary group is defined in ICD-10 as C77-C80. The NDRS detailed cancer of unknown primary groups are defined in the table below.
The NDRS main and detailed cervix groups are defined in ICD-10 as C53. The cervix definition should be applied to female gender cases only.
The NDRS main endocrine glands excluding brain group is defined in ICD-10 as C73-C75 excluding C751-C753 (as these cases are in the brain group). The NDRS detailed endocrine glands excluding brain groups are defined in the table below.
The NDRS main and detailed eye groups are defined in ICD-10 as C69.
The NDRS main head and neck group is defined in ICD-10 as C003-C005, C01-C14, and C30-C32. The NDRS detailed head and neck groups are defined in the table below.
The NDRS main and detailed heart, mediastinum, pleura, other and ill-defined respiratory disease groups are defined in ICD-10 as C38-C39.
The NRDS main and detailed Kaposi sarcoma groups are defined in ICD-10 as C46.
The NDRS main kidney group is defined in ICD-10 and ICD-O3 as C64 excluding the ICD-O3 morphology codes 8120, 8122, 8130, and 8131. These codes form part of the renal pelvis and ureter group. The NDRS detailed kidney groups are defined in the table below.
The NDRS main liver and biliary tract group is defined in ICD-10 as C22-C24. The NDRS detailed liver and biliary tract groups are defined in the table below.
The NDRS main lung group is defined in ICD-10 as C33-C34. The NDRS detailed lung groups are defined in the table below where NSCLC is an acronym for Non-small-cell lung cancer, and SCLC is an acronym for small-cell lung cancer.
The NRDS main and detailed mesothelioma groups are defined in ICD-10 as C45.
The NDRS main oesophagus group is primarily defined in ICD-10 as C15, however the definition of oesophagus changes slightly over time. See the Get Data Out oesophagus and stomach page for details on the change in the definition over time. The NDRS main oesophagus group is defined by the ‘ICD-10 code’ column in the table below. The definition applies to diagnosis years 2013-2017 where the ‘Pre 2018 flag’ column is 1, and applies to the diagnosis years 2018 onwards where the ‘Pre 2018 flag’ column in 0. The NDRS detailed oesophagus subgroups are also defined in the table below.
The NDRS main ovary group is defined in ICD-10 and ICD-O2. The definition is ICD-10 codes C56, C57, D391 and C48, but not including the ICD-O2 morphologies 8693, 8800-8806, 8963, 8990, 8991, 9040-9044, 8810-8921, 9120-9373, 9490, 9500 and 9530-9582 associated with the ICD-10 code C48. These codes form part of the soft tissue definition. The NDRS detailed ovary groups are defined in the table below. The ovary definition should be applied to female gender cases only.
The NDRS main pancreas group is defined in ICD-10 as C25. The NDRS detailed pancreas groups are defined in the table below.
The NDRS main and detailed prostate groups are defined in ICD-10 as C61. The prostate definition should be applied to male gender cases only.
The NDRS main and detailed renal pelvis and ureter group is defined in ICD-10 and ICD-O3 as C65, C66, D411, D412 and D091 where the ICD-O3 site code associated with the ICD-10 D091 cases is C65 or C66. The definition also includes the ICD-10 codes C64, D410, and D091, where the ICD-O3 site code associated with the ICD-10 D091 cases is C64, and where the ICD-O3 morphology code associated with C64, D410, and D091 is one of 8120, 8122, 8130, and 8131.
Sarcomas can occur in different sites of the body and therefore this group overlaps with many of the other site groups. It is defined by ICD-O3 site, morphology and behaviour as per the table below, which lists the NDRS detailed sarcoma groups.
The NDRS main and detailed skin cancer groups are defined in ICD-10 and ICD-O3. The NDRS main skin cancer cohort is
The table below shows the NDRS detailed groups for skin cancer, defined in ICD-O3.
The NRDS main and detailed small intestine groups are defined in ICD-10 as C17.
The NDRS main and detailed soft tissue group is defined using ICD-10 and ICD-O2. The definition is ICD-10 codes C47, C48, and C49. Note that for female gender cases, only the ICD-O2 morphology codes 8693, 8800-8806, 8963, 8990, 8991, 9040-9044, 8810-8921, 9120-9373, 9490, 9500 and 9530-9582 associated with the C48 ICD-10 code are included. The other morphologies associated with C48 for female gender cases form part of the Ovary definition. For male gender cases, all ICD-O2 morphologies associated with C48 are included.
The NDRS main stomach group is primarily defined in ICD-10 as C16, however the definition of stomach changes slightly over time. See the Get Data Out oesophagus and stomach page for details on the change in the definition over time. The NDRS main stomach group is defined by the ‘ICD-10 code’ column in the table below. The definition applies to diagnosis years 2013-2017 where the ‘Pre 2018 flag’ column is 1, and applies to the diagnosis years 2018 onwards where the ‘Pre 2018 flag’ column in 0. The NDRS detailed stomach subgroups are also defined in the table below.
The NDRS main testes group is defined in ICD-10 as C62 and D292. The NDRS detailed testes groups are defined by ICD-O2 morphology codes as in the table below. The testes definition should be applied to male gender cases only.
The NRDS main and detailed thymus groups are defined in ICD-10 as C37.
The NDRS main and detailed urethra groups are defined in ICD-10 and ICD-O3 as C68 and D091 where the ICD-O3 site code associated with the ICD-10 D091 cases is C68.
The NDRS main uterus group is defined in ICD-10 as C54-C55. The NDRS detailed uterus groups are defined in the table below. The uterus definition should be applied to female gender cases only.
The NDRS main and detailed vagina groups are defined in ICD-10 as C52. The vagina definition should be applied to female gender cases only.
The NDRS main other malignant group is a collection of ICD-10 site codes which currently do not fall into any of our other NDRS main groups, specifically C26, C63 (excluding C632), C76, and C58. We do not expect any of our primary publications to use this group but it is used internally to ensure that all registrations sit in a site group. The NDRS detailed other malignant groups are defined in the table below.
This group is a non homogeneous group of registerable conditions with behaviour 2 that do not fall into another site group. We do not expect any of our primary publications to use this group but it is used internally to ensure that all registrations sit in a site group.
This group is a non homogeneous group of registerable conditions with behaviour 1 that do not fall into another site group. We do not expect any of our primary publications to use this group but it is used internally to ensure that all registrations sit in a site group.
The ‘Other main’ and ‘Other detailed’ groups defined in ICD-10 only, are listed in the table below in alphabetical order with the exception of the ‘Other malignant’, ‘In situ’, ‘Benign’, and ‘Uncertain or unknown’ groups which NDRS do not publish on routinely and are listed at the bottom of the table. Detailed groups only exist for a subset of the site groups in the ‘Other’ definitions. These are ‘Head and neck’, ‘Bowel’, ‘Urinary tract’, ‘Brain’, ‘Endocrine glands excluding brain’, ‘Cancer of unknown primary’, ‘Blood cancer (haematological neoplasms)’, and ‘Other malignant’.
The Other main head and neck group is defined in ICD-10 as C00-C14, and C30-C32. This differs from the NDRS main head and neck group by the inclusion of the codes C000-C002, C006, C008, and C009 which correspond to ‘External lip’. In the NDRS main groups, these codes are part of ‘Skin cancer’. The Other detailed head and neck groups are the same as the NDRS detailed groups but with the additional inclusion of C000-C002, C006, C008, and C009 forming the Other detailed group ‘External lip’. Similarly, in the NDRS main definition, vulva, penis, and scrotum for part of skin, whereas in the Other main definition, they have their own groups.
The definitions of the headline Get Data Out groups are listed in the table below. Note that GDO currently does not cover all cancer sites. Many of the GDO headline groups are the same as the NDRS main groups but those that are different are described in the table.
The extra morphology codes which define the ‘Extramammary paget disease’, ‘External genital SCC in situ’, ‘Melanoma in situ’, and ‘Skin tumours of uncertain malignant potential’ groups with form part of the GDO ‘Skin tumours’ partition are specified in the table below.