On March 27th, The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) released an expanded list on their website titled “Presumptive Cancers related to Burn Pit exposure” – a more palatable list to accompany the apathetic list signed into law on August 10th of last year. Ironically, the VA is still under the assumption that burn pits are the main culprit to cause this catalogue of cancers, despite two high profile studies finding that aviators and air crew members are at an average of 24% more likely to be diagnosed with cancers compared to the general population. The other catch is a Department of Defense study published two weeks ago found that “…no difference was found between those who deployed with or without combat, suggesting that the lower of risk of cancer mortality associated with deployment was present regardless of combat experiences...”. Do not be confused, they found higher rates of cancers in both cohorts, but point in case, many of those who serve do not necessarily deploy – at least not in a conventional way (i.e., boots on the ground).
But the PACT Act criteria still requires service within a dozen countries:
- Service on and after September 11, 2001, in any of these locations:
- Syria
- Uzbekistan
- Yemen
- Afghanistan
- Djibouti
- Egypt
- Jordan
- Lebanon
- Airspace above nations
- Service on or after August 2, 1990, in any of these locations:
- Bahrain
- Iraq
- Kuwait
- Oman
- Qatar
- Saudi Arabia
- Somalia
- United Arab Emirates
- Airspace above nations
So to all of you Air Force missileers with cancer from the ICBM or to those stationed on one of the ships involved with the Fukushima nuclear reactor incident, or those Special Operators who deployed solely to Africa, gah… the list goes on and on. We are sorry.
And side note, if you do have one of these cancers, and you apply, the presumption ONLY entitles you to a label deemed “Service Connected“. A percentage rating is not guaranteed. The percent you are given, from 0% to 100% is based on your current “disabled” status from that cancer. If you are in remission or deemed “cancer free”, chances are you will receive a service connection, but rated at 0%.
UPDATED LIST OF ‘PRESUMPTIVE’ CANCERS
- BRAIN CANCERS
- Primary Glioblastoma
- Secondary Glioblastoma
- Anaplastic astrocytoma
- Brain stem glioma
- Diffuse astrocytoma
- Pilocytic astrocytoma
- Pineal astrocytic tumors
- Subependymal giant cell astrocytoma
- Ependymomas (cellular, clear cell, papillary, RELA fusion-positive, and tanycytic)
- Malignant pineal gland
- Mixed gliomas (Oligoastrocytoma)
- Oligodendrogliomas
- Pituitary carcinoma
- EAR AND EYE CANCERS
- Ceruminous adenoma (ear)
- Rhabdomyosarcoma (ear)
- Carcinoid tumors of the orbit and ocular adnexa (eye)
- Eye and ocular adnexa cancers
- Melanomas of the eye
- Neuroendocrine tumors of the orbit (eye)
- MOUTH, NECK, AND THROAT CANCERS
- Hypopharyngeal cancer
- Jaw cancer
- Laryngeal cancer
- Glottis and subglottic cancers
- Supraglottis neoplasm
- Oral cavity squamous cell carcinoma
- Oropharyngeal cancer
- Pharyngeal cancer
- Salivary gland cancer
- Thyroid cancer (including anaplastic, follicular, medullary, and papillary)
- Tongue cancer
- Tonsillar cancer
- Lymphoepithelioma of the throat
- Adenocarcinoma of the trachea
- Squamous cell carcinoma of the trachea
- NASAL CANCER
- Keratinizing undifferentiated carcinoma
- Non-keratinizing undifferentiated carcinoma
- Squamous cell carcinoma
- Adenocarcinoma of the nose
- Adenoid cystic cancer of the nose
- Lymphoma of the nasal cavity
- Neuroendocrine carcinoma of the nose
- Olfactory neuroblastoma
- Plasmacytoma of the nose
- Squamous cell carcinoma of the nose
- Fibrosarcoma of the nose
- Leiomyosarcoma of the nose
- Rhabdomyosarcoma of the nose
- Undifferentiated pleomorphic sarcoma of the nose
- HEAD AND NECK
- Fibromatosis of head, neck
- Liposarcoma of head, neck
- Malignant ganglioma, mesenchymoma, and schwannoma of head, neck
- Osteosarcoma of head, neck
- Dermatofibrosarcoma of head, neck
- Ectomesenchymoma of head, neck
- Ewing sarcoma (endocrine) of head, neck
- Fibrosarcoma of head, neck
- Leiomyosarcoma of head, neck
- Low-grade fibromyxoid sarcoma of head, neck
- Rhabdomyosarcoma of head neck
- Angiosarcoma of head, neck
- Hemangioendothelioma and hemangiopericytoma of head, neck
- Solitary fibrous tumor of head, neck
- Vascular sarcoma of head, neck
- SPINAL CORD CANCERS
- Lymphoma of the spinal cord
- Malignant schwannoma of the spinal cord
- Multiple myeloma of the spinal cord
- Osteosarcoma of the spinal cord
- Solitary plasmacytoma of the spinal cord
- Chondrosarcoma of the spinal cord
- Chordoma of the spinal cord
- Ewing’s sarcoma of the spinal cord
- Malignant peripheral nerve sheath tumor of the spinal cord
- GASTROINTESTINAL CANCERS
- Anal cancer
- Colorectal cancer (large intestine)
- Small intestine cancer (adenocarcinoma, carcinoid, lymphoma and sarcoma)
- Gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST)
- Esophageal adenocarcinoma
- Esophageal squamous cell carcinoma
- Hepatocellular carcinoma of the liver and intrahepatic tract
- Pancreatic adenocarcinoma
- Adenosquamous carcinoma of the pancreas
- Colloid carcinoma of the pancreas
- Squamous cell carcinoma of the pancreas
- Spleen cancer (primary tumors)
- Diffuse adenocarcinoma of the stomach
- Intestinal carcinoma of the stomach
- KIDNEY CANCERS
- Chromophobe renal cell carcinoma
- Clear cell renal cell carcinoma
- Papillary renal cell carcinoma
- Renal cell carcinoma of the collecting duct
- Meduallary renal cell carcinoma
- Papillary renal cell carcinoma
- Renal sarcoma
- Wilms tumor of the kidney
- LYMPHOMAS
- Diffuse B-cell lymphoma
- Follicular B-cell lymphoma
- Mature B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma
- Small cell B-cell lymphoma
- Anaplastic large cell lymphoma
- Burkitt lymphoma
- Lymphoblastic lymphoma
- Mantle-cell lymphoma
- Mycosis fungoides
- Non-Hodgkin lymphoma
- T-cell lymphoma
- MELANOMA
- Acral lentiginous melanoma (skin)
- Lentigo maligna melanoma (skin)
- Nodular melanoma (skin)
- Superficial spreading melanoma (skin)
- Mucosal melanoma
- FEMALE REPRODUCTIVE CANCERS
- Breast cancer
- Cervical cancer
- Ovarian cancer
- Uterine cancer (also endometrial)
- Vaginal cancer
- Vulvar cancer
- MALE REPRODUCTIVE CANCERS
- Penile cancer
- Prostate cancer
- Testicular cancer
- RESPIRATORY CANCER
- Bronchial adenocarcinoma
- Bronchial large-cell carcinoma
- Bronchial squamous cell carcinoma
- Non-small cell adenocarcinoma
- Non-small cell carcinoid tumor
- Large cell carcinoma
- Non-small cell pleomorphic carcinoma
- Non-small cell “unclassified carcinoma”
- Combined small cell carcinoma of the lung
- Oat cell lung cancer
- Adenosquamous carcinoma of the lung
- Sarcomatoid carcinoma of the lung
- Sarcomoid carcinoma of the lung
- Typical and atypical carcinoid of the lung
To review the list and see for your own eyes (cause it may seem too good to be true), you can check it out at the link here. As you can see, many of the cancers did not make the list despite overwhelming bushels of evidence-based findings to prove otherwise. Ironically, given how many cancer cases we see daily, half of these we didn’t know existed. Like “Oat cell lung cancer“.
So, what didn’t make the cut:
- Leukemias of any type (AML, ALL, CML)
- Appendix cancer
- Basal cell carcinoma of the skin
- Bone cancer (outside of spine) – Ewing Sarcoma, Osteosarcoma
- Bile duct cancer (cholangiocarcinoma)
- Bladder cancer
- Myeloproliferative neoplasms (blood)
- Fallopian tube cancer
- Gallbladder cancer
- Hairy cell leukemia
- Male breast cancer
- Merkel cell carcinoma
- Mesothelioma
- Multiple myeloma (unless in spinal cord)
- Osteosarcoma (unless in spinal cord)
- Pheochromocytoma
- Adrenal cancer
- Peritoneal cancer
- Rhabdomyosarcoma of the bone
- Thymoma cancer
- Thymic carcinoma
Regardless if your cancer isn’t on the presumptive list, still apply. Many of the ones above, that are not included have heavy scientific evidence to support your cancer claims. If you haven’t deployed to one of those lovely areas mentioned above, still apply. And, if you need medical assistance, support, treatments, etc. and you are not service connected and need support, reach out to us through our immediate needs support program.
