VA Disability Rating for Brain, new growths of, malignant (DC 8002)

Rating levels

• 100% — You have a malignant (cancerous) new growth of the brain, either a primary brain cancer or a cancer that spread to the brain from elsewhere. The 100% rating applies while the tumor is active and continues for 2 years after surgery, chemotherapy or other treatment ends (see the note). It does not depend on the cancer spreading anywhere.
• 30% — After the 100% period ends, the residuals of the brain tumor and its treatment are rated under their own codes, with a minimum of 30% under this code. Under the note to DCs 8000 to 8025, that minimum requires ascertainable residuals. Residuals that cannot be measured, such as headaches, dizziness or fatigue, still count when they are consistent with the disease and not more likely due to something else.
• Note — The 100% rating under DC 8002 does NOT end the moment cancer treatment finishes. It continues automatically for 2 years after the last surgical, chemotherapeutic, or other treatment ends (whichever is later). At the 2-year mark, VA examines whether the residuals have stabilized. If yes, the rating is shifted away from the 100% malignant-disease rating and onto a residuals-based rating: the remaining neurological deficits (seizures rated under DC 8910/8911, paralysis under DCs 8520-8730, cognitive impairment under DC 8045 / § 4.130, cranial nerve damage under DCs 8205-8412, etc.) are rated according to their symptomatology, with the 30% minimum rating from DC 8002 preserved as a floor. If residuals have NOT stabilized at 2 years (active disease, ongoing treatment, recurrence), the 100% continues. Any reduction after the 2-year window is subject to 38 CFR § 3.105(e) (advance notice and § 3.344 stabilization rules).