Exposure-related cancer VA rating
The VA rates exposure-related cancer under varies by site, and most ratings land in the 100% while active; residuals rated after range. What decides yours is the criteria below and what your record actually documents.
What the criteria ask for at each level
varies by site — 38 CFR Part 4
| Rating | What the record has to show |
|---|---|
| 100% | Active cancer under treatment (and typically six months after) — automatic. |
| residuals | After remission: each residual (organ damage, neuropathy from chemo, scars, mental health) rates separately. |
The schedule's own words
Ratings turn on specific terms, and a record that describes the same reality in different language often reads as a lower rating. These are the words this code measures:
- active malignancy
- presumptive exposure
- residuals
Evidence that moves this rating
- Oncology records with diagnosis and treatment dates
- Exposure documentation (locations/dates of service)
What your statement has to cover
Doctors chart symptoms; they rarely chart consequences. That part is yours, and it is usually what separates a documented rating from a reported one.
- Check the presumptive lists FIRST: burn pits (PACT Act), Agent Orange, Camp Lejeune, and radiation cover dozens of cancers — no nexus needed.
- When treatment ends, file every residual separately before the 100% steps down.
Our Statement Builderwalks through the questions that produce that kind of statement, in the schedule's own terms.
What exposure-related cancer can lead to2 documented pathways
A secondary claim runs through a condition the VA already accepts, so the argument about your service is already won. What is left is the medical link — and a nexus opinion has to name the mechanism, not just the pair.
| Can lead to | The mechanism a nexus has to state |
|---|---|
| Depression | Diagnosis, treatment, and life disruption take a documented mental health toll. |
| Erectile dysfunction / FSAD | Pelvic surgery, radiation, or hormone treatment directly causes erectile dysfunction. |
A pathway existing in the literature is not the same as your claim being granted — your records and the VA decide that. How secondary claims work covers the argument.
Before you spend money on this claim
VA ratings do not add. Each new rating applies only to the part of you the VA still counts as unimpaired, then rounds to the nearest ten — so from 70%, a new 10% condition leaves you at exactly 70% and changes your payment by nothing.
That does not make the claim worthless; it can still matter for TDIU, for SMC, or later when something else is added. But it is worth knowing before you pay for a nexus letter rather than after. Check what one more condition does at your rating — it takes a minute.