VA Disability Rating for Malignant melanoma (DC 7833)

Rating levels

• Note — Malignant melanoma is rated on what it leaves behind: scars, disfigurement of the head, face, or neck (DC 7800), or impairment of function, each under the appropriate code. A 100% rating applies only when the melanoma requires treatment comparable to that used for cancers elsewhere in the body: systemic chemotherapy, X-ray (radiation) therapy more extensive than to the skin, or surgery more extensive than wide local excision. In that case the 100% runs from the date treatment starts, a VA examination is mandatory six months after that treatment is completed, and any change in the rating is subject to 38 CFR § 3.105(e). If there has been no local recurrence or metastasis, the rating is then based on residuals. If treatment is confined to the skin (for example, a wide local excision alone), the 100% provision does not apply. Melanoma is on the PACT Act list of presumptive cancers for veterans with qualifying toxic exposure; see our Cancer Claims Guide at /dc/cancer-claims-guide.