VA Disability Rating for Brain Cancer (DC 8002)

Diagnostic Code 8002 · 38 CFR §4.124a

What Is It?

DC 8002 is the malignant half of the schedule's "Brain, new growth of" entry — primary brain cancers such as glioblastoma, astrocytoma, and oligodendroglioma, and tumors that have metastasized to the brain from another site. Treatment combines neurosurgery, radiation, and chemotherapy, and the neurological picture depends on where the tumor sits: headache, seizures, focal weakness, vision or speech loss, and cognitive change are all common, from the tumor itself and from the treatment. Two service-connection routes matter here. 38 CFR §3.309(a) lists "Tumors, malignant, or of the brain or spinal cord or peripheral nerves" among the chronic diseases, presumed service-connected under §3.307(a)(3) when manifest to a degree of 10 percent or more within one year of separation; and the PACT Act's statutory presumptive list at 38 U.S.C. §1120(b) names both brain cancer and glioblastoma for veterans with qualifying Gulf War or post-9/11 toxic-exposure service. 38 CFR §4.124a opens the neurological schedule with a bracketed instruction: disability from the diseases it lists "may be rated from 10 percent to 100 percent in proportion to the impairment of motor, sensory, or mental function," referring the rater to the appropriate body system of the schedule for each manifestation. Inside the 8000–8025 block the schedule prints either a single flat percentage, a single minimum rating, or no percentage at all — there is no severity ladder anywhere in it. A Note closing the block adds two conditions: the minimum ratings for residuals require ascertainable residuals, and when a rating above the minimum is assigned, the diagnostic codes used as the basis of that evaluation must be cited alongside the code identifying the diagnosis. DC 8002 prints two figures: 100 percent for the malignant tumor, and a minimum of 30 percent once the evaluation moves to residuals. The Note attached to the code is the part most often misstated — the 100 percent "will be continued for 2 years following cessation of surgical, chemotherapeutic or other treatment modality." Two years, not six months; the six-month clock in §4.124a belongs to the brain-vessel codes DC 8007 through 8009 and to hematomyelia at DC 8012.

Rating Criteria

Evidence Needed

The pathology report establishing the malignancy, its type, and its grade is the foundation, together with the MRI or CT showing location and extent. Treatment records — operative notes, radiation oncology summaries, chemotherapy and immunotherapy administration records — establish the date active treatment ceased, which is what starts the two-year clock, so that last treatment date needs to be unambiguous in the file. Serial post-treatment imaging documents recurrence or progression. Once the two years elapse, the evidence that sets the percentage is the residual workup: neuropsychological testing, seizure records and EEG, strength and sensation by nerve distribution, visual fields, and speech and language evaluation. For the presumptive routes, keep the diagnosis date against the separation date, and the service documentation for a qualifying period of toxic-exposure service.

C&P Exam Tips

During treatment and for the two years afterward, the diagnosis and the treatment timeline are what matter — make sure the record shows exactly when the last surgical, chemotherapeutic, or other treatment ended. After that the exam shifts to characterizing residuals, and each deficit should be documented individually in the terms its own code uses: which cognitive domains and by how much, seizure type and frequency, which limb and which nerve distribution, what the visual field loss is. Bring pathology, treatment summaries, surveillance imaging, and the neurology and neuropsychology findings together. Where residuals include loss of use of a limb, blindness, or the need for aid and attendance, request a special monthly compensation evaluation explicitly.

How to File

File VA Form 21-526EZ claiming a malignant brain tumor under DC 8002 and cite 38 CFR §4.124a. File as soon as you are diagnosed rather than waiting for treatment to finish. Attach pathology, imaging, and all treatment records with the last treatment date clearly identified. If your service qualifies under the PACT Act, cite 38 U.S.C. §1120 and attach the service documentation; if the tumor became compensably disabling within a year of separation, cite 38 CFR §3.309(a) and §3.307(a)(3). As the two-year period nears its end, file the residual evidence so the transition is made on a current picture, and request an SMC evaluation where functional losses justify it.

Common Mistakes

Believing the 100 percent runs six months after treatment ends. Under DC 8002 it runs two years — the six-month figure in §4.124a belongs to DC 8007 through 8009 and to DC 8012. Waiting until treatment is over to file. Leaving the last-treatment date ambiguous in the record, which leaves the two-year clock unanchored. Letting the transition to residuals happen on stale evidence. Not requesting an SMC evaluation when the residuals justify it.

Frequently Asked Questions

How long does the 100 percent rating last after treatment ends?

Two years. The Note under DC 8002 reads that the rating "will be continued for 2 years following cessation of surgical, chemotherapeutic or other treatment modality. At this point, if the residuals have stabilized, the rating will be made on neurological residuals according to symptomatology." Active treatment means surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, immunotherapy, or another antineoplastic therapy — surveillance imaging alone does not extend it. The identical two-year Note appears at DC 8021 for malignant spinal cord tumors. The six-month clock some sources quote belongs to different codes: DC 8007 through 8009 for brain-vessel events and DC 8012 for hematomyelia.

What happens to the rating after the two years?

If the residuals have stabilized, the evaluation is made on the neurological residuals according to symptomatology, with a minimum of 30 percent. There are no printed steps between 30 and 100 for this code — anything above the floor is built in proportion to the impairment of motor, sensory, or mental function under the codes for the specific residuals, and the decision has to cite those codes. Any move down from 100 percent is a rating reduction, so the procedural protections in 38 CFR §3.105(e) apply first: notice, a period to respond, and the opportunity for a hearing.

Is brain cancer a PACT Act presumptive?

The PACT Act's statutory list at 38 U.S.C. §1120(b) names both brain cancer and glioblastoma among the diseases presumed service-connected for covered veterans — those with a qualifying period of Gulf War or post-9/11 service in the locations the statute identifies. VA administers that list directly; the codified presumptive sections in 38 CFR (§3.309, §3.318, §3.320 and its subsections) do not yet carry it, so cite the statute. Separately, 38 CFR §3.309(a) lists tumors of the brain among the chronic diseases, which is a different route with a one-year window from separation.