Barrett's esophagus (BE) develops as a consequence of chronic esophageal acid exposure, and is the major risk factor for esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). The practices of endoscopic screening for-and surveillance of-BE, while widespread, have failed to reduce the incidence of EAC. The majority of EACs are diagnosed in patients without a known history of BE, and current diagnostic tools are lacking in their ability to stratify patients with BE into those at low risk and those at high risk for progression to malignancy. Nonetheless, advances in endoscopic imaging and mucosal therapeutics have provided unprecedented opportunities for intervention for BE, and have vastly altered the approach to management of BE-associated mucosal neoplasia.
Keywords: Barrett’s esophagus; endoscopic eradication therapy; endoscopic surveillance; esophageal adenocarcinoma.
© The Author(s) 2014. Published by Oxford University Press and the Digestive Science Publishing Co. Limited.