Cancer is a serious health condition that can remain undetected for years, making diagnosis and treatment more difficult. A study found that some types of cancer can form and grow without detection for 10 years or more. This is especially true for
breast cancer
, which often has no signs or symptoms and is only detected during a mammogram. The exact time it takes forbreast cancer
to develop from a single cancer cell into a tumor is unknown.However, the growth rate of breast cancer cells can vary depending on factors such as age or a history of hormone replacement therapy. A tumor with a doubling time of 200 days would take 20 years to become detectable, while one with a doubling time of 100 days would take 10 years. On the other hand, a tumor with a doubling time of 20 days would take only 2 years to develop. When it can be felt, the breast tumor is usually just over half an inch in size (about one-third the size of a golf ball).
Metastasis, the spread of breast cancer to other parts of the body, is responsible for most deaths from breast cancer. Breast cancer can also cause a rash similar to mastitis, an infection of the breast tissue that most commonly affects women who are breastfeeding. The most common warning sign of breast cancer is a lump in the breast or armpit. Breast cancers are sometimes detected when they are very small due to microcalcifications in the breast.
It's important to be aware of how your breasts normally feel so you can alert your healthcare provider to any changes and have them evaluated if they don't resolve within a few weeks. Tumor growth rate of invasive breast cancers during waiting times for surgery as evaluated by ultrasound can also help doctors determine how long breast cancer has been growing undetected. The results suggest that growth varied significantly depending on the subtype of breast cancer and the role of estrogen receptors in those subtypes.
