Kidney Cancer

Kidney cancer starts in the tissue of one or both kidneys, the organs responsible for filtering waste from the blood. Asbestos is mostly associated with lung disease, but researchers have spent decades studying whether it can also reach and affect organs like the kidneys. Asbestos Ships helps veterans in this position connect that research to their own service history.

What the research has found

Occupational studies going back years have tracked kidney cancer rates among asbestos-exposed workers. One early review found elevated kidney cancer mortality among heavily exposed groups, including U.S. asbestos insulators and workers at an asbestos products company.

A more recent 2023 meta-analysis focused specifically on new kidney cancer diagnoses, not just deaths, and found a potential association between asbestos exposure and kidney cancer incidence. The analysis found the link was stronger among workers exposed to amphibole asbestos, one of the mineral's forms historically used in shipboard insulation and fireproofing.

Shipyard evidence specifically

Some of the strongest data comes from shipyard settings rather than general industrial workplaces. A study of Italian shipyard workers found a combined mortality rate for kidney, bladder, and other urinary cancers nearly double what would be expected in an unexposed population.

That risk clearly isn't confined to asbestos manufacturing plants. It shows up in the same kind of shipbuilding and repair work veterans carried out day to day aboard Navy ships.

Roles that carried repeated exposure

Kidney cancer research tends to focus on workers with ongoing, repeated asbestos contact rather than a single brief encounter. Several Navy roles fit that pattern.

• Personnel who served on ships with keels laid before 1983
• Sailors who worked below deck before the early 1990s
• Shipyard workers active from the 1930s through the 1990s
• Pipefitters, welders, and boiler operators
• Personnel who removed damaged asbestos lagging or re-wrapped pipes with asbestos paste

These roles involved regular contact with insulation, boilers, valves, gaskets, and other asbestos-containing materials throughout a ship.

Putting together a claim

Kidney cancer is not a presumptive asbestos condition, so the connection to military service has to be well-documented. The VA looks for a few specific pieces of evidence.

• Documentation that asbestos exposure occurred during service
• A current diagnosis of kidney cancer or a related condition
• A doctor's opinion linking the diagnosis to that in-service exposure

Once that evidence is submitted, the VA typically schedules its own examination and requests a medical opinion before deciding whether the connection holds up.

How the VA rates kidney cancer

Kidney cancer falls under Diagnostic Code 7528, covering malignant neoplasms of the genitourinary system, and active disease is rated at 100 percent. That full rating stays in place through surgery, chemotherapy, radiation, or other treatment, plus six months beyond that, at which point a required exam determines the next step.

If there's no sign of recurrence at that exam, the rating shifts to reflect whatever residual effects remain instead of holding at 100 percent indefinitely. Those residuals can involve reduced kidney function, voiding problems, or other lasting genitourinary effects from treatment.

What compensation looks like in 2026

Monthly VA disability compensation scales with both the assigned rating and a veteran's dependents. A few reference points for a veteran with no dependents this year include the following.

• 10 percent: $180.42
• 30 percent: $552.47
• 50 percent: $1,132.90
• 70 percent: $1,808.45
• 100 percent: $3,938.58

A veteran rated 100 percent gains additional monthly compensation with a spouse, children, or dependent parents on the claim. At the 100 percent rate, that comes to $4,158.17 with a spouse and no other dependents, $4,085.43 with one child and no spouse, or $4,318.99 with a spouse and one child. These figures took effect December 1, 2025, and none of this compensation is taxed.

How Asbestos Ships supports your case

Kidney cancer claims ask a veteran to prove a connection that isn't automatically assumed, which takes more than a diagnosis alone to support. Asbestos Ships works alongside veterans to close that gap.

• Connections to VA-accredited representatives who take on these cases without upfront fees
• Straightforward information on the kind of service and medical evidence that strengthens a claim
• Help locating your nearest VA regional office or medical center
• Referrals to legal resources for compensation options outside the VA system

Tracing a kidney cancer diagnosis back to decades of shipboard or shipyard work takes real documentation, and most veterans aren't equipped to gather that on their own. Our team has helped others navigate exactly this kind of case before. Get in touch with us to talk through what your service history might support.