Barrett esophagus is recognized as a risk factor for the development of dysplasia and adenocarcinoma of the esophagus. Cancer is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage with a 5-year survival rate of 15%. Most of these patients present de novo and are not part of a surveillance program. Endoscopic screening with improvement in recognition of early lesions may change this pattern. In the past, patients diagnosed with dysplasia and mucosal cancer were best managed by esophagectomy. Endoscopic techniques such as endoscopic mucosal resection and radiofrequency ablation have resulted in high curative rates and a shift away from esophagectomy. This pathway is supported by the literature review of esophagectomies performed for mucosal disease, as well as pathologists' interpretation of endoscopic mucosal specimens, which document the low risk of lymph node metastasis. The role of endoscopic therapy for superficial submucosal disease continues to be a challenge.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by  

• Determination of regional lymph node status using18F-FDG PET/CT parameters in oesophageal cancer patients: comparison of SUV, volumetric parameters and intratumoral heterogeneity
  Seong-Jang Kim, Kyoungjune Pak, Samuel Chang
  The British Journal of Radiology.2016; 89(1058): 20150673.     CrossRef
• Management of high grade dysplasia in Barrett's oesophagus with underlying oesophageal varices: A retrospective study
  William C. Palmer, Milena Di Leo, Manol Jovani, Michael G. Heckman, Nancy N. Diehl, Prasad G. Iyer, Herbert C. Wolfsen, Michael B. Wallace
  Digestive and Liver Disease.2015; 47(9): 763.     CrossRef
• Combination of FDG PET/CT and Contrast-Enhanced MSCT in Detecting Lymph Node Metastasis of Esophageal Cancer
  Ru Tan, Shu-Zhan Yao, Zhao-Qin Huang, Jun Li, Xin Li, Hai-Hua Tan, Qing-Wei Liu
  Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention.2014; 15(18): 7719.     CrossRef