Endoscopic assessment and management of early esophageal adenocarcinoma

Abstract

Esophageal carcinoma affects more than 450000 people worldwide and the incidence is rapidly increasing. In the United States and Europe, esophageal adenocarcinoma has superseded esophageal squamous cell carcinoma in its incidence. Esophageal cancer has a high mortality rates secondary to the late presentation of most patients at advanced stages. Endoscopic screening is recommended for patients with multiple risk factors for cancer in Barrett’s esophagus. These risk factors include chronic gastroesophageal reflux disease, hiatal hernia, advanced age, male sex, white race, cigarette smoking, and obesity. The annual risk of esophageal cancer is approximately 0.25% for patients without dysplasia and 6% for patients with high-grade dysplasia. Twenty percent of all esophageal adenocarcinoma in the United States is early stage with disease confined to the mucosa or submucosa. The significant morbidity and mortality of esophagectomy make endoscopic treatment an attractive option. The American Gastroenterological Association recommends endoscopic eradication therapy for patients with high-grade dysplasia. Endoscopic modalities for treatment of early esophageal adenocarcinoma include endoscopic resection techniques and endoscopic ablative techniques such as radiofrequency ablation, photodynamic therapy and cryoablation. Endoscopic therapy should be precluded to patients with no evidence of lymphovascular invasion. Local tumor recurrence is low after endoscopic therapy and is predicted by poor differentiation of tumor, positive lymph node and submucosal invasion. Surgical resection should be offered to patients with deep submucosal invasion.

Keywords: Esophageal adenocarcinoma; High grade dysplasia, endoscopic ultrasound; Gastroesophageal reflux; Barrett’s esophagus; Chromoendoscopy; Narrow band imaging; Endoscopic mucosal resection; Radiofrequency ablation

Core tip: This review provides an up-to-date summary of the recent published studies on the use of endoscopic diagnosis and endoluminal management in patients with early esophageal adenocarcinoma, including endoscopic mucosal resection and local ablative techniques. Moreover, the review highlights the significance of this disease and the rising incidence of adenocarcinoma in the United States and western world.