How long does it take for cancer to become visible?
Table of Contents
How long does it take for cancer to become visible?
Scientists have found that for most breast and bowel cancers, the tumours begin to grow around ten years before they’re detected. And for prostate cancer, tumours can be many decades old. “They’ve estimated that one tumour was 40 years old.
Do cancers take years to develop?
Most cancers take years to develop and often occur in people as they get older. This long process is mainly due to the cell’s protective mechanisms to keep cancer from developing. However, as cells age, the chance of accumulating harmful mutations increases and cancer cells can start to grow.
How long can you have cancer and not know it?
But other cancers can form and grow undetected for 10 years or more, as one study found, making diagnosis and treatment that much more difficult. This table provides an overview of common cancers that often display little or no symptoms early on, and how they’re typically detected and diagnosed:
Can cancer cells become inactive for years at a time?
But, as long as conditions are favorable for the cancer cells at every step, some of them are able to form new tumors in other parts of the body. Metastatic cancer cells can also remain inactive at a distant site for many years before they begin to grow again, if at all.
What happens when someone with cancer has cancer again?
Most of the time, when someone who has had cancer has cancer again, it means the first primary cancer has returned. During metastasis, cancer cells spread from the place in the body where they first formed to other parts of the body. Cancer cells spread through the body in a series of steps. These steps include:
Do cancer cells die at some point in the process?
Most of the time, spreading cancer cells die at some point in this process. But, as long as conditions are favorable for the cancer cells at every step, some of them are able to form new tumors in other parts of the body. Metastatic cancer cells can also remain inactive at a distant site for many years before they begin to grow again, if at all.