Deficiencies in pathological reporting of colorectal cancer in Victoria

Colorectal cancer (CRC) pathological reporting deficiencies have been shown to be common, with deviations from the suggested minimum dataset. Information from both surgeon and pathologist is necessary for a complete report. These deficiencies have been shown to be correctable with the use of synoptic reporting. We carried out an audit on a random sample of CRC pathological reports from the first 6 months of 2004 in Victoria, Australia, with the aim of documenting current CRC pathological reporting deficiencies.

A random sample of pathological reports for CRC was obtained from the Cancer Council of Victoria. One hundred and sixteen of these reports were reviewed by a team of surgical and pathology trainees. Presence or absence of the various fields of the 1999 National Health and Medical Research Council minimum dataset for CRC reporting was recorded.

There were deviations from the minimal dataset. Most notable was the absence of the information on the apical node, the presence of distant metastasis and perineural invasion.

The opportunity exists for improvement in the pathological reporting of CRC in Victoria through the uniform introduction of synoptic reporting.