Molecular Screening in Barrett's Esophagus

摘要

Barrett's esophagus is the precursor lesion for esophageal adenocarcinoma. The importance of diagnosing the precursor lesion is highlighted by the improved survival for patients diagnosed with cancer at an early stage (confined to the mucosa) compared with the abysmal survival for those presenting with symptomatic disease with spread to the submucosa and beyond. The clinical challenge is therefore to detect Barrett's esophagus on a population level (screening) and to then predict those at highest risk for progression (surveillance) who require intervention at an early stage.