Board decisions
Erectile dysfunction secondary to cancer
In the Board decisions we have indexed since 2019, erectile dysfunction appeared as secondary to cancer in 337 issues. The Board granted 88, denied 62, and sent 172 back for more work. Of the ones it decided, it granted 59 percent.
Every decision counted here is an appeal. The regional office decided the claim first, the veteran disagreed, and the Board is the next step after that. These are not the odds on a first claim.
Since 2019
3 were reopened for a fresh look, which is not a grant and is not counted as one. 11 were dismissed or withdrawn. 1 ended some other way, or we could not read the outcome.
Across every year we have indexed, that is 659 issues, 47 percent granted of the ones decided, and 50 percent sent back for more work.
What a secondary claim needs
In a secondary claim, the Board reads for three things. A diagnosis of the second condition. A first condition that is already service connected. And a medical opinion that says the first condition led to the second, or made it worse, and explains why. The rule itself is shorter than that. Here is the part that matters.
… disability which is proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disease or injury shall be service connected.
38 CFR 3.310(a), from the middle of its first sentence
Proximately due to means the first condition led to the second. The other route is aggravation, where the first condition made the second worse. The rule for that route is in the next paragraph of the same section, and it says increase in severity.
Any increase in severity of a nonservice-connected disease or injury that is proximately due to or the result of a service-connected disease or injury, and not due to the natural progress of the nonservice-connected disease, will be service connected.
38 CFR 3.310(b), first sentence
That paragraph goes on to say the VA will not concede aggravation without a baseline. A baseline is medical evidence of how bad the second condition was before the first one started making it worse, or the earliest record after that and before the evidence of how bad it is now. If you claim aggravation, find the earliest record you have of the second condition, from either window. Without a baseline from one of them, the VA will not concede aggravation. The other route, that the first condition led to the second, does not need a baseline.
A remand is not a yes or a no. The Board sends the claim back to the regional office for more work, such as a new exam or a record that was not in the file. The claim is decided again later, and that later decision is a separate document.
Recent decisions on these claims
- January 9, 2026Denied
Entitlement to service connection for erectile dysfunction (ED), to include as secondary to prostate cancer
Read the decision at VA.gov - October 17, 2025Granted
Entitlement to service connection for erectile dysfunction (ED), as secondary to a service-connected prostate cancer
Read the decision at VA.gov - October 16, 2025Granted
Entitlement to service connection for erectile dysfunction as secondary to prostate cancer
Read the decision at VA.gov - September 4, 2025Granted
Service connection for erectile dysfunction, secondary to prostate cancer
Read the decision at VA.gov - August 20, 2025Denied
Service connection for erectile dysfunction, including as secondary to prostate cancer
Read the decision at VA.gov
Keep reading
Cancer
The first condition. Since 2019: 24,152 issues, 42 percent granted of the ones decided
Erectile dysfunction
The second condition. Since 2019: 11,011 issues, 33 percent granted of the ones decided
Depression or anxiety secondary to cancer
Since 2019: 140 issues paired, 45 percent granted of the ones decided
Radiculopathy or neuropathy secondary to cancer
Since 2019: 158 issues paired, 42 percent granted of the ones decided
High blood pressure secondary to cancer
Since 2019: 49 issues paired, 27 percent granted of the ones decided
Scars secondary to cancer
Since 2019: 83 issues paired, 53 percent granted of the ones decided
Kidney conditions secondary to cancer
Since 2019: 56 issues paired, 44 percent granted of the ones decided
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We count an issue in a pair when its text says one condition is secondary to the other and we can place both in a condition family. Percent granted is of the ones the Board decided, so remands and dismissals are left out. Past decisions do not predict yours. Each page states the decisions from 2019 on, and says so, unless the Board decided too few of them since 2019 to give a percentage worth reading. Where that happens the page counts every year instead and tells you it has. This page is education, not legal advice. Rules quoted are from 38 CFR Parts 3 and 4, as published on the government's eCFR website. Board decisions are public records, linked at their source.