Body system 13.00 in the SSA Blue Book covers cancer for adult (Part A). SSA uses these listings at step 3 of its five-step disability evaluation. If your medical evidence meets one of the listings on this page, your claim is approved without the disability examiner moving on to past-work and labor-market analysis at steps 4 and 5.
Most claimants who do not meet a listing in this body system can still be approved at later steps based on their residual functional capacity, age, education, and past work. The medical evidence you build for a listing-match argument is the same evidence those later steps rely on, so the listing criteria are useful to read even when a claim looks like a step-5 approval candidate.
Body system code
13.00
Part A
Active listings
28
Specific impairments
Audience
Adults 18+
SSA disability evaluation
Step in evaluation
3 of 5
Listing match approves the claim
Active listings under 13.00
Every listing below has current SSA-published criteria. Codes that SSA reserved for future use or has withdrawn since 1985 are not included. Click a listing where a plain-English breakdown is available, or follow the regulation link for SSA's exact text.
Source: SSA Blue Book, body system 13.00. Last synced 2026-05-04.
How SSA describes this body system
Excerpted from SSA's regulatory introduction at the top of the body-system page. Full text and all subsection cross-references live on ssa.gov.
Cancer A. What impairments do these listings cover? We use these listings to evaluate all cancers (malignant neoplastic diseases) except certain cancers associated with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection. We use the criteria in 14.11B to evaluate primary central nervous system lymphoma, 14.11C to evaluate primary effusion lymphoma, and 14.11E to evaluate pulmonary Kaposi sarcoma if you also have HIV infection. We evaluate all other cancers associated with HIV infection, for example, Hodgkin lymphoma or non-pulmonary Kaposi sarcoma, under this body system or under 14.11F-I in the immune system disorders body system. B. What do we consider when we evaluate cancer under these listings? We consider factors including: 1. Origin of the cancer. 2. Extent of involvement. 3. Duration, frequency, and response to anticancer therapy. 4. Effects of any post-therapeutic residuals. C. How do we apply these listings? We apply the criteria in a specific listing to a cancer originating from that specific site. D. What evidence do we need? 1. We need medical evidence that specifies the type, extent, and site of the primary, recurrent, or metastatic lesion. When the primary site cannot be identified, we will use evidence documenting the site(s) of metastasis to evaluate the impairment under 13.27 . 2. For operative procedures, including a biopsy or a needle aspiration, we generally need ...
Read the full text on the SSA Blue Book 13.00 page.
What happens during a claim under 13.00
The disability examiner assigned to your claim looks for medical records that match the lettered criteria of one of the listings above. The examiner does not diagnose you and does not weigh symptoms in isolation. They line up the listing's required findings against your records and decide whether the records contain enough to satisfy the listing as written.
If your records meet a listing, the claim is approved at step 3. If not, the examiner moves on to evaluating your residual functional capacity (RFC) at steps 4 and 5. RFC is a description of what work activity you can still do despite your impairments. The listings inform the RFC because the same medical evidence the listings ask for is the evidence the examiner uses to write the RFC. The disability overview walks through the full five-step evaluation in plain English.
Work activity, SGA, and the SSDI gate
A claim under any Blue Book listing is denied at step 1 if you are working at or above the substantial gainful activity threshold. SGA is the monthly earnings test SSA applies before any medical evaluation. Earning above SGA in countable work activity means SSA never reaches the listings on this page. Earning below SGA, or being out of work entirely, lets the medical evaluation proceed.
Once you are approved and receiving SSDI, the trial work period and extended period of eligibility apply differently than at the initial-application stage. Both are explained on the SGA amount page with year-by-year thresholds since 1975.
Children's listings for the same body system
SSA publishes a parallel body system at 113.00 for the children's (under 18) side of the same conditions. Many listings cross over with tighter functional thresholds for the children's version. The Cancer (malignant neoplastic diseases, children) page covers the 8 active listings on that side.