Getting Veterans (VA) Disability for Cancer
CCK Law: Our Vital Role in Veterans Law
If you received a cancer diagnosis during or after active military service, you might qualify for VA disability benefits.
To receive disability compensation for cancer from the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA), you must prove a connection between your diagnosed medical condition and an injury, illness, or event during your service. The VA claims process can be complicated, and establishing this connection can be challenging.
That is why having a qualified attorney working on your behalf can help. The team at Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick has successfully fought on behalf of many veterans who received cancer diagnoses.
We will gather the evidence you need to demonstrate a connection between your diagnosis and military service. We will build a compelling case and pursue it aggressively.
In this article, CCK Law will discuss:
- Establishing service connection for cancer
- Common causes of cancer
- How VA rates cancer
- And more
Establishing Service Connection for Cancer
To receive VA disability benefits for cancer, veterans must first establish service connection. There are several ways veterans can do so. In many cases, veterans will apply for service connection on a direct basis, meaning they must prove the following:
- A current diagnosis of cancer;
- An in-service event, injury, or illness; and
- A medical nexus linking the cancer diagnosis to the in-service occurrence.
However, veterans may also be eligible for service connection for cancer on a presumptive basis due to various forms of exposure.
Common Causes for Service-Connected Cancer
There are several causes for service-connected cancer. Veterans receive disability compensation for cancer once they successfully establish service connection. One of the most common causes is exposure, e.g. to toxins or chemicals that cause cancer.
Some common causes for service-connected cancer include:
- Agent Orange
- Radiation
- Depleted uranium exposure
- Water contamination
- Burn pits
- Occupational hazards
Agent Orange and Cancer
As mentioned above, one of the most common ways that cancer stems from a veteran’s service is due to exposure. Agent Orange exposure, in particular, is very common among veterans who served during the Vietnam War era.
To qualify for the presumption of exposure as outlined under 38 CFR § 3.309(e), veterans must have served in the following locations during the specified time frames:
- The Republic of Vietnam from January 9, 1962, to May 7, 1975 (including Brown Water and Blue Water Navy veterans);
- Thailand, at any U.S. or Thai base from January 9, 1962, to June 30, 1976, without regard to the Veteran’s MOS or where on base they were located;
- Laos from December 1, 1965, to September 30, 1969;
- Cambodia, specifically at Mimot or Krek, Kampong Cham Province from April 16, 1969, to April 30, 1969;
- Guam or American Samoa or in the territorial waters thereof from January 9, 1962, to July 30, 1980;
- Johntson Atoll or a ship that called at Johnston Atoll from January 1, 1972, to September 30, 1977;
- On or near the Korean demilitarized zone (DMZ) between September 1, 1967, and August 31, 1971; and
- Active duty and reservist personnel who had regular contact with C-123 aircraft between 1969 and 1986.
38 CFR § 3.309(e) also lists the conditions associated with Agent Orange exposure. These cancers include (but are not limited to):
- Bladder cancer
- Chronic B-cell leukemia
- Soft-tissue sarcoma
- Hodgkin’s and non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
- Multiple myeloma
- Prostate cancer
- Leukemia
- Lung cancer
- Multiple myeloma
- And more
If VA presumes that you were exposed to herbicides and you later receive one of the above-mentioned cancer diagnoses, VA should award service connection.
It is important to note that veterans who have different types of cancers may still qualify for service connection based on Agent Orange exposure; however, they will have to provide a nexus opinion linking their cancer to their in-service exposure.
Radiation and Cancer
VA also has a presumptive policy for veterans who participated in radiation risk activities. These include veterans who served in the following locations and times, or who worked in one of the following military professions:
- Occupation of Hiroshima and Nagasaki, Japan from August 6, 1945, and July 1, 1946
- Prisoners of War (POWs) in Japan during World War II
- Participants in atmospheric nuclear weapons tests, primarily conducted in Nevada and the Pacific Ocean from 1945 to 1962
- Underground nuclear weapons testing in Amchitka Island, Alaska prior to January 1, 1974
- Any of the following gaseous diffusion plants for at least 250 days prior to February 1, 1991:
- Paducah, Kentucky
- Portsmouth, Ohio
- K25 in Oak Ridge, Tennessee
- Enewetak Atoll from January 1, 1977, to December 31, 1980
- Service members who participated in the response to the Palomares, Spain B-52 plane crash from January 17, 1966, to March 31, 1967
- Service members who responded to the B-52 plane crash at Thule Air Force Base in Greenland from January 21, 1968, to September 25, 1968
- Service members who worked as an X-ray technician, in a reactor plant, or in nuclear medicine or radiography
- Service members who did tasks like those of a Department of Energy (DoE) employee that makes them a member of the Special Exposure Cohort
Additional circumstances in which veterans may have been exposed include:
- The Fukushima nuclear accident in Japan from March 12 to May 11, 2011
- The U.S. Air Force plutonium clean-up mission in Palomares, Spain
- Exposure to depleted uranium
- Exposure to radiation from Long Range Navigation stations (LORAN) from 1942 to 2010
- McMurdo Station, Antarctica nuclear power plant from 1964 to 1973
Some of the cancers that VA presumes are associated with radiation exposure include:
- Bile duct cancer
- Bone cancer
- Breast cancer
- Colon cancer
- Gallbladder cancer
- Liver cancer
- Lung cancer
- Pancreatic cancer
- Pharynx cancer
- Ovarian cancer
- Cancer of the salivary glands
- Small intestine cancer
- Stomach cancer
- Thyroid cancer
- Urinary tract cancers (kidney/renal, pelvis, urinary bladder, and urethra)
- Various types of leukemia (except chronic lymphocytic leukemia)
- Various types of lymphomas (except Hodgkin’s disease)
- Multiple myeloma
- And more
If veterans were presumed to be exposed to radiation and later develop one of the cancers mentioned above, they will not be required to provide a medical nexus.
Again, when VA creates a presumption, it is essentially eliminating one of the elements of service connection. Specifically, if veterans show that they have a disability, the in-service event and the nexus opinion are conceded.
Depleted Uranium Exposure Among Gulf War and Post-9/11 Veterans
Depleted uranium is another way in which veterans can be exposed to radiation. This source of exposure mainly applies to Gulf War veterans. However, this path to service connection is less clear-cut.
As such, it may be beneficial to seek help from a qualified veterans’ representative (e.g., VA claims advocate, veterans’ lawyer, Veterans Service Organization).
Camp Lejeune Water Contamination and VA’s Presumptive Policy
Veterans who served at Camp Lejeune between August 1953 and December 1987 were exposed to toxins in the drinking water. As a result, many Camp Lejeune veterans and their family members have developed various illnesses.
To receive presumptive service connection for exposure to contaminated drinking water, veterans are required to have served at Camp Lejeune for 30 consecutive days. Some of the cancers that are presumed to be caused by contaminated water exposure include:
- Breast cancer
- Leukemia
- Esophageal cancer
- Bladder cancer
- Kidney cancer
- Lung cancer
- Multiple myeloma
- Non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma
- And more
Burn Pit Exposure and the PACT Act
Many veterans who were exposed to burn pits during military service develop cancer later on in life. Open-air burn pits were large pits used for waste disposal on United States military bases in Iraq and Afghanistan throughout the post-9/11 era.
Materials burned in the pits include metals, medical waste, human waste, ammunition, and plastics. Many toxins and chemicals were emitted from the burn pits, resulting in veterans breathing them in along with the billows of smoke.
The Institute of Medicine (IOM) released a report in 2011 stating that 2,3,7,8-TCDD (TCDD), the most potent of all dioxins (also found in Agent Orange), was found in the air surrounding the burn pits in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The report also noted that the Department of Defense (DoD) air quality monitoring data measured levels of particulate matter higher than considered safe by U.S. regulatory agencies.
In 2022, the PACT Act was officially signed into law. This act established presumptions for veterans who were exposed to burn pits during their service in the Middle East.
Some of the cancers that VA now recognizes as presumptive from burn pit exposure include:
- Head cancer (of any type)
- Neck cancer (of any type)
- Respiratory cancer (of any type)
- Gastrointestinal cancer (of any type)
- Reproductive cancer (of any type)
- Lymphoma cancer (of any type)
- Lymphomatic cancer (of any type)
- Kidney cancer
- Brain cancer
- And more
Occupational (MOS) Hazards and Cancer: Asbestos, Industrial Solvents
Exposure to occupational hazards has less to do with where veterans served and more to do with what they were doing during service.
If veterans are dealing with a certain type of cancer, it could be really helpful for them to look at their MOS and reflect on what they were exposed to while doing the tasks associated with the job.
For example, perhaps a veteran was around different industrial solvents, as they were often used in cleaning and degreasing, paint stripping, etc. Industrial solvents can be very dangerous because they contain chemicals, such as benzene, that are known to cause cancer.
If veterans used any dangerous chemicals during their daily routines, there is a chance that such exposure could have contributed to their development of cancer later on in life. Veterans should apply for service connection for cancer due to occupational hazards on a direct basis.
VA Disability Ratings for Cancer: How Does VA Rate Cancer?
If a veteran is service-connected for an active cancer, VA should automatically assign a temporary 100 percent disability rating. This rating continues for as long as their cancer is active, and then for another six months following the successful completion of a treatment program (e.g., chemotherapy, radiation, or surgery).
Six months after cancer treatment ends, VA will schedule the veteran for a Compensation & Pension (C&P) examination to evaluate the current status of their condition. If the C&P examination shows that their cancer is no longer active, but in remission, VA will then evaluate the cancer based on its residuals, if any.
For example, erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence are common residual symptoms of prostate cancer. If prostate cancer is no longer active, VA will likely reduce the disability rating for that condition and assign new ratings based on the severity of the veteran’s erectile dysfunction and urinary incontinence, if present.
How Much Disability Compensation Can I Earn for Cancer?
When VA approves you for disability benefits, it assigns you a disability rating between 0 and 100 percent. The severity of your condition, as judged by VA, determines your disability rating.
VA takes into consideration such factors as current and ongoing treatment, how your medical condition affects or limits your activities of daily living, and the severity of symptoms.
As of 2026, the VA disability rate benefit amounts are as follows:
- 0 percent disability rating: $0.00 per month
- 10 percent disability rating: $180.42 per month
- 20 percent disability rating: $356.66 per month
- 30 percent disability rating: $552.47 per month
- 40 percent disability rating: $795.84 per month
- 50 percent disability rating: $1,132.90 per month
- 60 percent disability rating: $1,435.02 per month
- 70 percent disability rating: $1,808.45 per month
- 80 percent disability rating: $2,102.15 per month
- 90 percent disability rating: $2,362.30 per month
- 100 percent disability rating: $3,938.58 per month
A disability rating of 30 percent or above qualifies eligible veterans to receive additional benefits for their spouse, children, or dependent parents.
VA provides an additional monthly payment schedule for veterans who are at least 30 percent disabled and have qualified dependents.
Get Help From Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick Today
Contact the veterans disability claims advocates at Chisholm Chisholm & Kilpatrick today. We have won many VA disability cases for our clients, and we will pursue yours aggressively.
Call CCK Law today at 800-544-9144 or contact us online for a free case evaluation with a member of our team.
