Lung cancer

Lung cancer is a malignant (cancerous) growth in the lungs, which are part of your respiratory (breathing) system. The VA recognizes it in its rating rules under 38 CFR 4.97, the schedule of ratings for the respiratory system. There it is grouped with diagnostic code 6819, described as malignant neoplasms (cancerous tumors) of any specified part of the respiratory system, not counting skin growths.

Under diagnostic code 6819, active lung cancer is rated at 100 percent. The rules say that 100 percent rating stays in place beyond the end of any surgery, X-ray, chemotherapy, or other cancer treatment. Six months after that treatment stops, the VA schedules a required (mandatory) exam to look again at your condition. If there is no local return of the cancer or spread (metastasis) to other areas, the VA then rates based on whatever lasting effects, or residuals, remain (for example, lost lung tissue or breathing problems). So the rating reflects whether the cancer is active and, later, what damage is left behind.

There are also presumptive pathways that can ease the burden of proving your cancer is tied to service. For Veterans exposed to herbicide agents like Agent Orange, 38 CFR 3.309(e) lists respiratory cancers (cancer of the lung, bronchus, larynx, or trachea) among the diseases the VA presumes are connected to that exposure when the rules are met. Separately, under the PACT Act, the VA has made respiratory (breathing-related) cancer of any type a presumptive condition for many Gulf War era and post-9/11 Veterans exposed to burn pits and other toxins. A presumptive condition means you generally do not have to separately prove the medical link (nexus) between your service exposure and the cancer.

Keep in mind these rules describe how the VA's system works in general, not what any one claim will result in, and a denial can be a starting point rather than the end. This is educational information only and is not legal advice or a VA decision.