ABSTRACT
Cancers are generally detected in the body after they have reached a critical size where they can be seen on an imaging system (ca. 1 cm diameter in the case of breast cancer), palpated, disrupt some normal physiological process, or cause pain, discomfort or bleeding. The
latency period
of a cancer is the interval between initiation and clinical detection. For some slow-growing cancers, the latent period can be 5 years or more. A major objective in oncology is to minimize the latency period because it is easier to fight an identified small cancer than a large one, perhaps before it has had a chance to spread (turn metastatic).
