Management of Barrett's esophagus and early esophageal cancer: update on endoscopic treatment strategies.

[esophageal adenocarcinoma]

Barrett 's esophagus represents the strongest known risk factor for developing esophageal adenocarcinoma . The traditional management strategy for identifying and managing Barrett 's esophagus involves screening and endoscopic surveillance to identify early stage , curable carcinoma . Recently , endoscopic eradication therapy has emerged to achieve the complete eradication of Barrett 's esophagus and intramucosal cancer to prevent the development of invasive cancer with lymphatic spread . Randomized trials have demonstrated the efficacy of these approaches to reduce the progression to cancer , and endoscopic eradication therapy has become the preferred treatment approach for patients with high --grade dysplasia , and may be utilized for management of low --grade dysplasia as well . Owing to excellent eradication rates and favorable side effect profile , radio frequency ablation has emerged as the ablative strategy of choice for patients undergoing endoscopic eradication therapy .