Gastrointestinal Cancers
Cancers of the digestive tract — presumptive for burn-pit and airborne-hazard exposure.
Gastrointestinal cancers cover a wide stretch of the body — the stomach, colon, esophagus, small intestine and the organs around them. The PACT Act recognizes that the same burn-pit smoke and contaminated water tied to other cancers reaches the digestive tract too, so these are now presumptive for veterans with qualifying exposure.
That removes the hardest part of the fight. You do not have to prove that what you breathed or drank downrange caused a tumor in your gut — the VA presumes it. Here is what these cancers are, why the exposure link is now automatic, and how the ratings work.
Understanding Gastrointestinal Cancers
This category covers malignant tumors of the digestive system, including cancers of the stomach, colon and rectum, esophagus, small intestine and related organs. Symptoms vary by site but often include abdominal pain, changes in bowel habits, difficulty swallowing, unexplained weight loss and bleeding.
The exposure link the VA now accepts for you
Burn-pit smoke and contaminated service water carried benzene, dioxins and other carcinogens that the body absorbs and processes through the digestive tract. The PACT Act lists gastrointestinal cancers as presumptive for veterans with qualifying burn-pit and airborne-hazard exposure, so the VA connects the diagnosis to service without a separate causation fight.
Because this is a presumptive condition, you do not have to prove the science of how your service caused it. If you have a qualifying diagnosis and served in a covered location during a covered period, the VA presumes the connection — your job is to file, attend the exam, and make sure the rating reflects how badly it truly affects you.
Why this hits women differently
Women veterans faced the same exposures, and digestive symptoms in women are especially likely to be attributed to stress, diet or hormonal causes before cancer is considered — which delays diagnosis. The presumption ensures that once the cancer is found, the connection to service is honored.
While an active cancer is being treated, the VA assigns a total 100% rating — and it holds that 100% for about six months after your last treatment (surgery, chemotherapy, radiation or targeted therapy) ends. After that window the VA re-examines you and re-rates on whatever is left behind: the residuals. That means the scars, the removed or damaged organ, the fatigue, the neuropathy, the breathing loss, the hormonal and mental-health fallout each get their own rating and stack together. A cancer that looks "cured" on paper can still support a substantial combined rating for the rest of your life.
What the VA Pays for Gastrointestinal Cancers
Gastrointestinal Cancers is rated under 38 CFR 4.114, Diagnostic Codes 7343–7344 (malignant digestive-system tumors). Here is exactly what each level requires, in plain English — not a table you have to decode.
An active gastrointestinal cancer is rated 100% while active and for six months after the final treatment ends. This is automatic once the diagnosis and treatment are documented.
After that window the VA re-examines you and rates the residuals of the disease and its treatment on the affected part of the digestive system.
A colostomy or other ostomy, removal of part of the stomach or intestine, malnutrition and weight loss, surgical scars, chronic fatigue and mental-health impact are each rated separately and combined.
Source: 38 CFR 4.114, Diagnostic Codes 7343–7344 (malignant digestive-system tumors). Every percentage here is a starting point set by federal regulation, not a promise — your actual rating depends on your records and exam. An accredited representative can confirm exactly what fits your case.
One rating is rarely the whole picture
This condition does not stand alone. The VA combines it with every other service-connected condition you carry using its combined-ratings math — so a presumptive claim can push your overall rating higher than this one number suggests. And if your toxic-exposure conditions together make it impossible to hold steady, gainful work, you may qualify for TDIU (Total Disability based on Individual Unemployability) and be paid at the 100% rate even if no single condition reaches 100%. This is one of the most overlooked ways women veterans are underpaid.
Getting this rated at its true severity
Keep every pathology report, surgical record and imaging result together, and make sure treatment-related conditions — an ostomy, malabsorption, weight loss — are documented and claimed as residuals. An accredited representative can confirm the presumption is applied and that every lasting effect is rated.
Do you qualify for Gastrointestinal Cancers?
Under the PACT Act, a presumptive claim comes together when two things are true at once: you have a diagnosis of gastrointestinal cancers, and your service falls inside one of the covered toxic-exposure windows below. When both are met, the VA presumes your condition is service-connected — you do not have to prove how the exposure caused it.
Post-9/11 service
Afghanistan, Djibouti, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Uzbekistan or Yemen — or the airspace above them — on or after September 11, 2001.
Gulf War-era service
Bahrain, Iraq, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia or the United Arab Emirates — or the airspace above them — on or after August 2, 1990.
Agent Orange & other exposures
Vietnam, Thailand, the Korean DMZ, Camp Lejeune and other recognized sites each carry their own presumptive rules and dates on top of the burn-pit windows.
Not sure whether your dates and locations line up? That is one of the most common reasons a valid claim gets denied — and one of the easiest to fix with the right records. An accredited representative can confirm your covered service before you file.
Filing a claim for Gastrointestinal Cancers, step by step
You can file a PACT Act claim on your own — but knowing the order of operations keeps it from stalling. Here is what the process looks like from start to decision.
Confirm the diagnosis
Make sure the condition is documented in your medical records — from the VA or a private doctor. A clear, current diagnosis is the first half of a presumptive claim.
Establish your covered service
Pull your DD-214, deployment orders and duty history to show you served in a covered location during a covered period. This is the second half — and once both are met, the VA presumes the link.
File the claim
File for disability compensation and specify the condition and your toxic exposure. You can file it yourself, but an accredited representative can file it correctly the first time and make sure nothing is left off.
Attend the C&P exam
The VA will schedule a Compensation & Pension exam. Describe your symptoms on your worst days, not your best — the rating is set from what the examiner records.
You do not have to do this alone
A free, no-obligation record review will tell you whether gastrointestinal cancers fits the presumptive rules for your service — and exactly what to file. Scroll down to request yours.
The PACT Act & Toxic Exposure, Explained
A couple of clear, trustworthy explainers on the PACT Act and toxic-exposure benefits from official sources. Watch whenever you are ready.
The PACT Act and Your VA Benefits
The Department of Veterans Affairs explains what the PACT Act changed — expanded health care, new presumptive conditions, and who qualifies after toxic exposure.
Ask About the Toxic Exposure Screening
The Veterans Health Administration walks through the free 5–10 minute toxic exposure screening every enrolled veteran can get — and why it starts your exposure record.
These videos are shared for general education from official and third-party sources. They are not legal advice, and watching them is never required to get help with your claim.
See every presumptive condition, or read how the PACT Act works.
Think this fits your record?
We focus on veterans the VA has already denied or under-rated. We do not take brand-new (initial) claims, and we do not take every case.
Guidance from a VA-accredited claims agent (#45147). Any figures are estimates that depend on your situation and the VA's decision — not legal or medical advice, and not the VA.