How much time would esophageal cancer take to develop?

Several years: No lesion begins on initial transformation. There is a premalignant state where the cells appear normal and then a transformation to dysplastic cells which eventually convert to the malignant phenotype which is in-situ. Transformation to the invasive state takes a further period of months if not longer. An invasive esophageal cancer would probably take 3-5 years to evolve and become symptomatic.