Optimal endoluminal treatment of Barrett’s esophagus: integrating novel strategies into clinical practice

Abstract

Endoluminal therapy has become the first-choice treatment over the last 5 years for early Barrett’s neoplasia limited to the mucosa. Long-term follow-up data on endoscopic resection have demonstrated the oncological safety of endoscopic resection in comparison to surgery. However, there is a high rate of recurrent disease, which can be avoided using additional ablation of the remaining Barrett. Radiofrequency ablation was recently introduced as an efficacious means to ablate Barrett’s epithelium with a better safety profile than older ablation techniques. Recent studies show that endoscopic resection can be safely combined with radiofrequency ablation for treating dysplastic Barrett’s after removal of visible lesions. This constitutes a completely new treatment paradigm that will be integrated in routine clinical practice in the forthcoming years.