Listing 13.13
Nervous system
This listing covers cancers that start in the brain, spinal cord, peripheral nerves, or spinal nerve roots.
Read the full plain-language explanation
Certain highly aggressive brain cancers (like glioblastoma) qualify by diagnosis alone, as does any WHO Grade III or IV central nervous system cancer. Other nervous system cancers qualify if they spread, progress, or come back after treatment. Benign (Grade I) brain tumors are evaluated under listing 11.05 instead, and cancer that spread TO the brain from elsewhere is evaluated under its original site. Only one path is needed.
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What Listing 13.13 asks for
What SSA looks for — see the 4 items
We will check your records against each of these. Every item comes straight from SSA's own listing.
- You have one of these highly aggressive brain cancers: glioblastoma multiforme, ependymoblastoma, or a diffuse intrinsic brain stem glioma.
- (Pituitary gland cancer is also evaluated here.)
- The diagnosis alone is enough.
Read the original wording
You have one of these highly aggressive brain cancers: glioblastoma multiforme, ependymoblastoma, or a diffuse intrinsic brain stem glioma. (Pituitary gland cancer is also evaluated here.) The diagnosis alone is enough.
(Listing 13.13, criterion A1)
- You have a brain or spinal cord cancer classified as Grade III or Grade IV under the World Health Organization system — such as high-grade astrocytoma, sarcoma, medulloblastoma, or another PNET.
- The graded diagnosis alone is enough.
Read the original wording
You have a brain or spinal cord cancer classified as Grade III or Grade IV under the World Health Organization system — such as high-grade astrocytoma, sarcoma, medulloblastoma, or another PNET. The graded diagnosis alone is enough.
(Listing 13.13, criterion A2)
- Any other cancer that started in the brain or spinal cord qualifies if it has spread (metastatic), or if it is growing or came back after the first course of treatment.
- Either a or b is enough.
Read the original wording
Any other cancer that started in the brain or spinal cord qualifies if it has spread (metastatic), or if it is growing or came back after the first course of treatment. Either a or b is enough.
(Listing 13.13, criterion A3)
- A cancer that started in a peripheral nerve or spinal nerve root qualifies if it has spread, or if it is growing or came back after the first course of treatment.
- Either one is enough.
Read the original wording
A cancer that started in a peripheral nerve or spinal nerve root qualifies if it has spread, or if it is growing or came back after the first course of treatment. Either one is enough.
(Listing 13.13, criterion B)
How long it must last:
No listing-specific duration stated. Under 13.00H2, an impairment meeting this listing is considered disabling until at least 3 years after onset of complete remission.