Barrett's Esophagus Risk Factors, Diagnosis and Management

Barrett's oesophagus refers to an abnormal change or metaplasia in the cells of the lower portion of the oesophagus. When the normal squamous epithelium lining of the oesophagus is replaced by goblet cells, Barrett's oesophagus is diagnosed. The medical significance of Barrett's oesophagus is its strong association with oesophageal adenocarcinoma, a particularly lethal cancer. In this book, the authors discuss the risk factors, diagnosis and management of Barrett's oesophagus. Topics include chemoprevention strategies including aspirin and non-steriodal inflammatory agents in treating Barrett's oesophagus; an endoscopic ablative technique used in the management of Barrett's oesophagus and early oesophageal cancer; a histopathological analysis of protease activated receptor-2 (PAR-2) and cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) immunoexpression in oesophageal glandular metaplasia; and the impact of inflammation-metaplasia-adenocarcinoma sequence and inflammatory microenvironment in oesophageal carcinogenesis using surgical rat models.