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VA rating schedule, diagnostic code 7528
Bladder cancer is a cancer of the genitourinary system (the organs that make and carry urine). When the VA decides a claim, it first looks at whether the cancer is connected to your military service. If it agrees there is a service connection, it then assigns a disability rating using the VA's rating schedule. Bladder cancer is rated under 38 CFR 4.115b, Diagnostic Code 7528, "Malignant neoplasms of the genitourinary system."
Under Diagnostic Code 7528, the rules assign a 100% rating while the cancer is active or while you are getting treatment such as surgery, radiation, or anti-cancer (antineoplastic) chemotherapy. That 100% rating continues for six months after treatment stops. At the end of those six months, a VA examination is required. If there has been no return of the cancer (recurrence) and no spread (metastasis), the rules say the condition is then rated on its leftover effects ("residuals") — either voiding dysfunction (problems with urine leakage, frequency, or obstructed voiding) or renal (kidney) dysfunction, whichever is the main problem. For voiding dysfunction, continual urine leakage that requires wearing absorbent materials changed more than 4 times per day can warrant up to a 60% rating. If the cancer comes back, the rules provide for the 100% rating again.
There is also a presumptive pathway that can ease the burden of proving a connection to service. A presumptive condition means the VA assumes service connection if you meet the exposure and service requirements, so you generally do not need a separate "nexus" opinion linking the cancer to service. Effective January 1, 2021, the National Defense Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2021 added bladder cancer (along with hypothyroidism and Parkinsonism) to the list of conditions presumptively linked to Agent Orange and other herbicides. The PACT Act further expanded presumptive conditions and added more presumptive-exposure locations for Agent Orange, burn pits, and other toxic exposures. The VA decides eligibility based on the facts of each veteran's case.
If a claim is denied, that is a starting point, not the end — the VA system includes ways to seek further review. This is general educational information about how the VA's rules work, and it is not legal advice or a VA decision.
Grounded in federal regulations and VA guidance, independently reviewed June 2026. Educational information, not legal advice or a VA determination.
Across 2,885 real Board appeals for Bladder cancer
A denial is often not the end either — remands (shown below) are sent back for more development and can still end in a grant. These are historical outcomes, not a prediction of your case.
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Among the appeals that were granted or partly granted, the most common ways Bladder cancer was linked to service:
In appeals where Bladder cancer was the only condition decided and the Board granted it, the rating most often assigned was:
These appeals involved a recognized exposure — which can mean the link to service is presumed, with no nexus to prove:
The Veteran's service-connected disabilities rendered him unable to secure and maintain substantially gainful employment prior to January 31, 2023.
The Veteran's acquired psychiatric disability, diagnosed as generalized anxiety disorder, is granted. The Veteran's tinnitus is also granted.,Bladder cancer and heart disability (including a heart attack) are remanded for further review due to insufficient evidence of service connection. Obstructive sleep apnea is also remanded with respect to the exposure basis.
The Board has granted service connection for interstitial pulmonary fibrosis as secondary to in-service exposure to toxins from explosives and mortars, and for bladder cancer as secondary to in-service exposure to forever chemicals.
The Veteran's hypertension was granted a 10 percent rating for the period prior to August 10, 2022. The Veteran's bladder cancer received a 100 percent rating from March 7, 2018 until September 8, 2018.
The Veteran's bladder cancer was granted a 100% rating from March 7, 2018 until his death on September 8, 2018. The effective date for service connection is set to the date of receipt of the supplemental claim filed by the Veteran.
Jump to the decisions from a specific year.
New decisions are added every week, and older years are actively being backfilled — a year that looks thin or missing here (especially 2011–2017) is a gap in our library, not in the Board’s decisions.
Veterans appealing Bladder cancer often look at outcomes for these too:
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This is general information, not legal advice. For advice about your own situation, talk to a VA-accredited representative — many help for free.