Dissecting out the genetic origins of Barrett's oesophagus.

摘要

Current dogma dating back to the 1970s suggests that the development of cancer occurs through clonal selection such that the primary tumour contains all the genes necessary to invade and metastasise.1 In this model heterogeneity within the tumour cell population arises as a result of genetic instability and as a result a variety of non-causative or hitchhiker mutations may be observed. Barrett's oesophagus is an ideal system in which to study the genesis of cancer in the human since the oesophagus is readily accessible to biopsy and the metaplasia-dysplasia sequence can be observed longitudinally.