Is Respiratory cancers (including lung cancer) a presumptive condition?
The short answer
Yes. VA lists Respiratory cancers (including lung cancer) as presumptive for Agent Orange and other herbicide agents.
That means you would not have to prove the medical link between this condition and your service. It does notmean a claim is approved. You still need a current diagnosis, service that meets the requirement for that exposure, and a discharge that isn't dishonorable, and VA decides every case itself.
Agent Orange and other herbicide agents
How VA publishes it: va.gov phrasing. 38 CFR 3.309(e) defines it more narrowly as "Respiratory cancers (cancer of the lung, bronchus, larynx, or trachea)."
Qualifying locations and dates
In the Republic of Vietnam
Dates: January 9, 1962 to May 7, 1975
Aboard a U.S. military vessel that operated in the inland waterways of Vietnam
Dates: January 9, 1962 to May 7, 1975
On a vessel operating not more than 12 nautical miles seaward from the demarcation line of the waters of Vietnam and Cambodia
Dates: January 9, 1962 to May 7, 1975
In or near the Korean DMZ
Dates: VA phrasing on the eligibility page: "for any length of time between September 1, 1967, and August 31, 1971"
Any U.S. or Royal Thai military base in Thailand
Dates: January 9, 1962 through June 30, 1976
Laos
Dates: December 1, 1965 through September 30, 1969
Cambodia at Mimot or Krek, Kampong Cham Province
Dates: April 16, 1969 through April 30, 1969
Guam or American Samoa, or in the territorial waters off Guam or American Samoa
Dates: January 9, 1962 through July 31, 1980
Johnston Atoll, or on a ship that called at Johnston Atoll
Dates: January 1, 1972 through September 30, 1977
Repeated contact with C-123 aircraft that had traces of Agent Orange on them
Dates: No date range is published on the va.gov Agent Orange eligibility page. VA's public health pages describe this as during and after the Vietnam War, covering flight, ground maintenance, and aeromedical crew members.
Involvement in transporting, testing, storing, or other uses of Agent Orange during military service (herbicide test and storage sites)
Dates: No single date range. VA maintains site-by-site lists in which each installation carries its own dates.
Everything listed under agent orange and other herbicide agents
What to do with this
Nothing on this page is advice about your claim, and it can't tell you whether you qualify. If the dates and places above look like your service, that is a conversation for a free accredited representative. If VA denied this condition before it became presumptive, VA says you can file a Supplemental Claim and it will look again.
Get your records together first
These claims turn on two things: proof of where and when you served, and a documented diagnosis. MusterVault keeps both encrypted and organized on your own computer and builds a packet for your representative.
Educational only, not legal, medical, or claims advice. Condition names are reproduced exactly as VA publishes them and were checked August 6, 2026. VA revises these pages often and its own pages sometimes disagree, so treat VA's live pages as authoritative. MusterVault is not affiliated with the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs.