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VA rating schedule, diagnostic code 6819
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.
Grounded in federal regulations and VA guidance, independently reviewed June 2026. Educational information, not legal advice or a VA determination.
Across 4,666 real Board appeals for Lung 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 Lung cancer was linked to service:
In appeals where Lung 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 cause of death, metastatic lung cancer, was found to be related to service and caused or contributed substantially to the Veteran's death. The Board granted entitlement to service connection for the Veteran's cause of death.
The Veteran's headache disability is granted as service-connected. The left foot condition and lung cancer claims are remanded due to the need for additional medical opinions.
The Board has granted service connection for liver cancer, lung cancer, and pancreatic cancer, finding that the evidence is at least in equipoise as to whether these conditions are attributable to the Veteran's in-service exposure to herbicide agents (Agent Orange).
Service connection for lung cancer is granted based on a diagnosis and presumed exposure to herbicide agents during service.,Service connection for COPD is granted as related to in-service toxic exposure risk activities.
The Veteran's lung cancer and brain tumor are granted service connection, while his basal cell carcinoma (claimed as multiple myeloma) is denied. The Board found no evidence of herbicide exposure in Guam or elsewhere during active duty.
The Board has determined that the appellant's lung cancer is the result of in-service radiation exposure and grants service connection for this condition.
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 Lung 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.