Veterans and Bladder Cancer: A Webinar Series From BCAN

BCAN Webinar Series: Veterans

BCAN's Patient Insight Webinar series includes the four-part Veterans & Bladder Cancer Webinar, which focused on the physical and emotional impact of bladder cancer unique to our veteran population. You can watch each video below.

Medical Breakdown

Common Psychological Issues

Navigating Veterans Affairs

Question and Answer Sessions

Vietnam Veterans and Agent Orange Exposure

In March 2016, the Institute of Medicine, a division of the National Academies of Sciences, evaluated the available scientific and medical information about possible health effects, including bladder cancer, due to exposure to Agent Orange and other herbicides used in Vietnam.

This report changed bladder cancer's category of association with exposure to Agent Orange, moving from "inadequate or insufficient" evidence of association, up to "limited or suggestive" evidence of association.

Why It Matters

Bladder cancer's reclassification calls for more research for this disease, and brings it one step closer to being added to the Department of Veterans Affairs' presumptive list.

This means veterans with bladder cancer due to herbicide exposure could possibly receive benefits from the VA.

Camp Lejeune: Past Water Contamination

In July 2015, the VA released a report warning past residents of Marin Corps Base Camp Lejeune of their potential exposure to drinking water contaminated with industrial solvents, benzene, and other chemicals.

Fifteen health conditions, including bladder cancer, have been linked to this exposure, and qualify for VA health benefits.

If you lived on Camp Lejeune for longer than 30 days between August 1, 1952 and December 1, 1987, contact your local VA healthcare facility to start the enrollment process.