C43.39

Billable

Malignant melanoma of other parts of face

HCC Category Mapping

V28HCC 23 — Melanoma and Other Skin Cancers

0.251

V24HCC 12 — Breast, Prostate, and Other Cancers and Tumors

0.150

ESRDHCC 12 — Breast, Prostate, and Other Cancers and Tumors

0.000

RxHCCHCC 22 — Cancer, Other Specified Sites

0.000

What This Code Means

A type of skin cancer (melanoma) that starts on other parts of the face, such as the cheeks, forehead, lips, or chin.

Coding Tips

•Use this code for facial melanomas that are not on the nose (which would be C43.31)
•Consider documenting the specific facial location in the medical record for clarity, even though this is a catch-all code

Clinical Significance

Malignant melanoma of other parts of the face, including cheek, forehead, temple, and chin. This code captures facial melanomas at sites other than the lip, eyelid, ear, or nose, which have their own specific codes. Facial melanomas require careful surgical planning to balance oncologic adequacy with cosmetic and functional outcomes.

Documentation Requirements

✓Specific facial location documented (cheek, forehead, temple, chin, etc.)
✓Breslow depth and Clark level
✓Ulceration status and mitotic rate
✓Sentinel lymph node biopsy results
✓AJCC staging
✓Surgical margins and reconstruction plan

Commonly Confused Codes

C43.31 — Melanoma of nose; nose has its own specific code C43.0 — Melanoma of lip; lip has its own specific code C43.10-C43.122 — Melanoma of eyelid; eyelid has its own specific codes C43.30 — Melanoma of unspecified part of face; less specific, use C43.39 when a specific non-nose facial site is documented

Code Hierarchy

└C43Malignant melanoma of skin └C43.3Malignant melanoma of other and unspecified parts of face └C43.39Malignant melanoma of other parts of face

└C43.39Malignant melanoma of other parts of face