Barrett’s esophagus is a complication in the esophagus from a reflux disease predisposing patients to esophageal adenocarcinoma. Esophageal adenocarcinoma is a tumor in the esophagus that has increased up more than 7-fold over the past few decades. Since there has been such a significant increase in esophageal adenocarcinoma, the topic of endoscopic screening and surveillance for GERD and Barrett’s esophagus is being heavily debated.
Barrett’s esophagus is a result of chronic gastro-esophageal reflux disease, also known as GERD. GERD is a condition that occurs when a backflow of stomach contents, such as acidic fluid, flows back up through the esophagus. Esophageal complications from GERD lead to: reflux esophagitis, Barrett’s esophagus, and …show more content…
The topic of endoscopic surveillance programs for patients with Barrett’s esophagus has been suggested to facilitate in reducing the risk for developing esophageal adenocarcinoma. One issue is most individuals that have Barrett’s esophagus are unawares of their diagnosis, which may hinder the overall benefit of endoscopic surveillance programs. To further determine incident rates of Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma a nationwide study including data from the time periods of 1970-1991 of esophageal and gastric cancers was collected from the Danish Cancer registry. The registry also used cases from 1987-1992 to identify cases of esophageal adenocarcinoma. Once the records were retrieved, the links between the diagnosis of reflux disease and Barrett’s esophagus were identified. The results between age and gender adjusted incidents of esophageal adenocarcinoma had increased up to eight fold over the 20 year period, and this increase could not be explained by changes due to diagnostic routines. Data was retrieved from 524 of 578 cases regarding esophageal adenocarcinoma. From the data only 113 of the 524 patients has a history of reflux symptoms or a compatible diagnosis of reflux. Only 1.3% of cancer patients had a previous diagnosis of Barrett’s Esophagus. In conclusion to the study more than 98% of esophageal adenocarcinoma patients could not have entered endoscopic surveillance, as Barrett’s esophagus hadn’t been diagnosed prior to the cancer. Patients with Barrett’s esophagus may have the option of endoscopic surveillance to identify dysplasia, but even in these screening programs it is not likely to reduce the death rate of esophageal adenocarcinoma in the general
Barrett’s esophagus is a result of chronic gastro-esophageal reflux disease, also known as GERD. GERD is a condition that occurs when a backflow of stomach contents, such as acidic fluid, flows back up through the esophagus. Esophageal complications from GERD lead to: reflux esophagitis, Barrett’s esophagus, and …show more content…
The topic of endoscopic surveillance programs for patients with Barrett’s esophagus has been suggested to facilitate in reducing the risk for developing esophageal adenocarcinoma. One issue is most individuals that have Barrett’s esophagus are unawares of their diagnosis, which may hinder the overall benefit of endoscopic surveillance programs. To further determine incident rates of Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma a nationwide study including data from the time periods of 1970-1991 of esophageal and gastric cancers was collected from the Danish Cancer registry. The registry also used cases from 1987-1992 to identify cases of esophageal adenocarcinoma. Once the records were retrieved, the links between the diagnosis of reflux disease and Barrett’s esophagus were identified. The results between age and gender adjusted incidents of esophageal adenocarcinoma had increased up to eight fold over the 20 year period, and this increase could not be explained by changes due to diagnostic routines. Data was retrieved from 524 of 578 cases regarding esophageal adenocarcinoma. From the data only 113 of the 524 patients has a history of reflux symptoms or a compatible diagnosis of reflux. Only 1.3% of cancer patients had a previous diagnosis of Barrett’s Esophagus. In conclusion to the study more than 98% of esophageal adenocarcinoma patients could not have entered endoscopic surveillance, as Barrett’s esophagus hadn’t been diagnosed prior to the cancer. Patients with Barrett’s esophagus may have the option of endoscopic surveillance to identify dysplasia, but even in these screening programs it is not likely to reduce the death rate of esophageal adenocarcinoma in the general