Citation Nr: 18150332
Decision Date: 11/15/18	Archive Date: 11/14/18

DOCKET NO. 15-10 407A
DATE:	November 15, 2018
ORDER
Service connection for cancer of the throat, head, trachea, or neck is granted.
FINDING OF FACT
The only medical opinions of record (a March 2015 VA registered nurse practitioner’s opinion and an October 2018 VA oncological expert opinion) are in agreement that the Veteran has a squamous cell carcinoma of the right base of the tongue with extension into the right vallecula and involving the right genioglossus muscle that is not a respiratory cancer (i.e., of the lung, bronchus, larynx, or trachea) presumptively associated with his conceded herbicide exposure in service. Nonetheless, the October 2018 expert medical opinion indicates, with a thorough explanation, that this diagnosis is an HPV-related oral cancer that was at least as likely as not incurred during the Veteran’s military service. Therefore, the Board finds the evidence is at least evenly balanced (in “relative equipoise”) in favor of a finding that the Veteran’s current squamous cell carcinoma is related to his military service.

CONCLUSION OF LAW
The criteria for service connection for a squamous cell carcinoma of the right base of the tongue (with extension into the right vallecula and involving the right genioglossus muscle) have been met. 38 U.S.C. §§ 1110, 1112, 1113, 1116, 5107(b); 38 C.F.R. §§ 3.102, 3.303(b), 3.307, 3.309(e).
REASONS AND BASES FOR FINDING AND CONCLUSION
The appellant is a Veteran who served on active duty from July 1970 to April 1972, with confirmed service in Vietnam. This matter is before the Board of Veterans’ Appeals (Board) on appeal from a January 2014 rating decision. In May 2018, a Travel Board hearing was held before the undersigned; a transcript of the hearing is associated with the record. For the reasons outlined above, the appeal is granted, obviating the need for any further discussion at this time.
 
VICTORIA MOSHIASHWILI
Veterans Law Judge
Board of Veterans’ Appeals
ATTORNEY FOR THE BOARD	M. Yuan, Associate Counsel