The Veteran's GIST and RCC are found to be secondary to his service-connected post-operative orchiectomy, left testicle, status post stage 1 seminoma due to radiation therapy. The Board granted the claims based on the evidence being in equipoise.
The deciding factor: The medical evidence supports a finding that the Veteran's GIST and RCC are at least as likely as not secondary to the radiation therapy he received for his service-connected seminoma, with both internal medicine physician Dr. TC and an article from the American Cancer Society providing support for this conclusion.
- Claimed conditions
- Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor (GIST), Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC)
- How they argued it
- Aggravation of a pre-existing condition
- Exposure basis
- Ionizing radiation
- Rating assigned
- None in this decision
- Decision date
- June 3, 2019
- Citation
- 19142315
Veterans Law Judge
Decisions by this judge: 2,162 · Granted: 21% (granted or partly granted, in the vetted decisions on this site)
Judge attribution: 2025 complete; earlier years partial.
This is a plain-language summary generated by AI from a public Board of Veterans’ Appeals decision. It can contain errors — always verify against the original. Look up the original decision on VA.gov (opens in a new tab) using citation 19142315.
What this means for you
A grant means the Board agreed the veteran was entitled to the benefit. Decisions like this show the kind of evidence and arguments that tend to succeed for claims like it.
What you can do next
Related decisions
Other Board decisions on a similar condition or argued the same way.
- Granted
The Veteran's Gastrointestinal Stromal Tumor (GIST) is presumed to be etiologically related to his conceded in-service herbicide exposure. The Board finds that service connection for GIST, on a presumptive basis as due to herbicide exposure, is warranted. Service connection for the liver condition, including bile duct adenoma, secondary to service-connected GIST, is remanded.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Board has remanded the case due to a lack of an opinion regarding whether the Veteran's GIST is aggravated by her service-connected disabilities. The VA needs to obtain additional medical opinions on this issue.
- Remanded (sent back)
The Veteran's claim for service connection for renal cell carcinoma is being remanded due to the submission of new and material evidence. The Board will schedule a VA examination to determine if RCC is related to his service, including herbicide agent exposure.
- Granted
The Veteran's renal cell carcinoma is found to be at least as likely as not related to his service exposure to ionizing radiation, and the claim for service connection is granted.
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