How long can a person have small bowel cancer before it causes symptoms?

How long haveIhad it: This is an age old question which i think every cancer patient asks at some point. How long does it take before I have symptoms, how long has it been there? No one can truly answer these questions. Each patient is unique and their can cer is unique to them as well.

Varies: Some small bowel cancers, e.g., lymphomas may cause obstruction when the size approaches the lumen diameter; others like neuroendocrine tumors are usually slow growing may cause symptoms only on producing metastases. In general tumors spend about half their life before those become clinically manifest, therefore most cancers are there for years before being detected.