Last Updated September 17, 2026
Conditions Center · Cancer · Social Security Disability
Also called pulmonary carcinoma, non-small cell lung cancer, small cell lung cancer, NSCLC, SCLC.
Lung cancer may qualify for SSDI or SSI under Listing 13.14 or through combined respiratory, treatment, and stamina limits. Histology and extent of disease matter. Small-cell carcinoma has a different listing path than non-small-cell disease. A lung nodule, a smoking history, or shortness of breath without pathology is not an approval.
What is Lung Cancer?
Lung cancers are commonly grouped as non-small-cell and small-cell (oat cell) carcinoma. NCI describes spread to hilar nodes and distant sites as clinically important. Treatment may include surgery, radiation, chemotherapy, immunotherapy, or targeted therapy. Many people also have COPD or reduced lung function from smoking or the tumor itself.
Common symptoms of Lung Cancer
- Cough, hemoptysis, chest pain, or shortness of breath
- Weight loss, fatigue, or reduced exercise tolerance
- Pain or neurologic symptoms if metastases are present
- Treatment-related nausea, infection risk, or pneumonitis
- Need for oxygen in some people
How can Lung Cancer affect a person’s ability to work?
- Inability to meet even sedentary stamina demands during treatment or with advanced disease
- Limits on dust, fumes, temperature extremes, or prolonged walking
- Absences for infusions, radiation, imaging, and complications
- Lifting and reaching limits after thoracic surgery
- Cognitive or neuropathy effects from systemic therapy when documented
Does Social Security have a Listing for Lung Cancer?
Social Security currently has listing criteria that may apply: 13.14 (Lungs). Meeting a listing requires the specific medical findings in that listing, not only the diagnosis.
Listing 13.14A addresses specified inoperable, unresectable, recurrent, or metastatic non-small-cell disease. 13.14B addresses small-cell (oat cell) carcinoma. 13.14C addresses superior sulcus (Pancoast) tumors treated with multimodal anticancer therapy, with a time-limited listing period described in the official listing. After that period, SSA evaluates residual impairment.
SSA applies Listing 13.14 using pathology and oncology evidence of type, operability, recurrence, and spread. Small-cell carcinoma has its own paragraph. Superior sulcus tumors treated with multimodal therapy have a time-limited listing rule. If the listing is not met, SSA assesses residual functional capacity, often combining cancer effects with chronic respiratory impairment under Listing 3.00 principles when those criteria are separately documented.
Can you qualify if you do not meet an SSA Listing?
Yes. Lung cancer that does not meet Listing 13.14 may still prevent work because of treatment, residual lung function, or metastases that do not match a listing paragraph.
What medical evidence may help document Lung Cancer?
- Pathology distinguishing small-cell from non-small-cell disease
- Oncology staging, including nodes and distant metastases
- Operative or interventional notes on whether disease was resectable
- Pulmonary function tests and oxygen prescriptions when obtained
- Treatment calendars and complication records
Testing, imaging, and laboratory studies
- Biopsy or cytology
- CT, PET, or other staging imaging used clinically
- Pulmonary function testing when the residual respiratory impairment is at issue
- Molecular testing when it guides treatment
Inoperable or unresectable status should come from oncology or surgical records, not from a claimant’s belief that surgery was too risky unless a clinician documented that conclusion. Immunotherapy and targeted therapy side effects belong in the file.
How SSA may evaluate residual functional capacity
RFC often turns on stamina, oxygen, environmental limits, and attendance. Combined COPD and cancer should be described as combined impairments, not two isolated stories.
Physical RFC may address walking distance, lifting after thoracotomy, and exposure to pulmonary irritants.
Documented cognitive effects of treatment or hypoxemia should be evaluated; they are not assumed from the diagnosis.
Common issues that can weaken a disability claim involving Lung Cancer
Missing histology; calling every lung mass listing-level; or omitting pulmonary function evidence when the claim is really about chronic lung disease plus cancer.
What may strengthen the medical documentation
Pathology, a clear operability and staging statement, and longitudinal oncology plus pulmonary notes.
Lung Cancer and related medical conditions
- Asthma — Asthma causes variable airway inflammation and narrowing. Current Listing 3.03 requires both qualifying pulmonary-function results and the specified hospitalization history.
- Breast Cancer — SSA evaluates breast cancer under Listing 13.10. Some distant, inoperable, or recurrent cases appear on the current Compassionate Allowances list; verify the exact presentation.
- Cancer — Cancer is evaluated under site- and type-specific listings in Chapter 13.00. A general cancer diagnosis is not one listing, and CAL status must be checked for the exact malignancy.
- Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease — COPD causes persistent airflow obstruction. Listing 3.02 uses standardized respiratory testing; claims below listing level may still turn on exertion, exposure, and exacerbations.
- Lymphoma and Leukemia — SSA evaluates lymphoma under Listing 13.05 and leukemia under Listing 13.06. Some named blood cancers appear on the current CAL list; indolent or well-controlled disease is not automatically a CAL condition.
- Pancreatic Cancer — SSA evaluates pancreatic carcinoma under Listing 13.20. Pancreatic cancer appears on the current Compassionate Allowances list. Islet-cell carcinoma has a narrower listing pathway. A diagnosis still requires medical evidence.
How Brock & Stout may help
We match histology and extent to Listing 13.14, verify CAL status for the specific lung-cancer entry, and develop combined respiratory RFC. Representation cannot guarantee approval.
Frequently asked questions
Small-cell lung cancer appears on SSA’s current CAL list, but adjudicators still need medical evidence of the diagnosis. Verify the current list. CAL expedites processing; it does not replace listing or RFC analysis.
Listing 13.14A is written for specified inoperable, unresectable, recurrent, or metastatic disease. Completely resected disease without those features is often an RFC case based on recovery, residual lung function, and any recurrence.
SSA considers combined impairments. COPD has its own respiratory listings. See our COPD guide. Do not assume the cancer listing is the only path.
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Speak with a Social Security Disability attorney
If Lung Cancer is affecting your ability to work, Brock & Stout can review the claim, look for missing medical evidence, and discuss next steps. We do not charge a fee for SSD representation unless we win.
This page is general educational information about Social Security Disability as of the date of this publication. It is not legal or medical advice, does not create an attorney-client relationship, and does not guarantee results. Eligibility depends on individual facts and current Social Security rules.
