Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Review
. 2012 Mar 20;9(5):278-87.
doi: 10.1038/nrclinonc.2012.35.

Screening for oesophageal cancer

Pierre Lao-Sirieix  1 , Rebecca C Fitzgerald
Affiliations
Review

Screening for oesophageal cancer

Pierre Lao-Sirieix et al. Nat Rev Clin Oncol. .

Abstract

Oesophageal cancer is a global health problem with high mortality due to the advanced nature of the disease at presentation; therefore, detection at an early stage significantly improves outcome. Oesophageal squamous-cell cancer is preceded by dysplasia and oesophageal adenocarcinoma is preceded by Barrett's oesophagus, which progresses to cancer via intermediate dysplastic stages. Screening to detect these preneoplastic lesions has the potential to substantially reduce mortality and morbidity. However, the risks and benefits of such programmes to individuals and to society need to be carefully weighed. Endoscopic screening is invasive, costly and error prone owing to sampling bias and the subjective diagnosis of dysplasia. Non-endoscopic cell-sampling methods are less invasive and more cost effective than endoscopy, but the sensitivity and specificity of cytological assessment of atypia has been disappointing. The use of biomarkers to analyse samples collected using pan-oesophageal cell-collection devices may improve diagnostic accuracy; however, further work is required to confirm this. The psychological and economic implications of screening as well as the feasibility of implementing such programmes must also be considered.

PubMed Disclaimer

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

See all "Cited by" articles

References

    1. Am J Gastroenterol. 2006 Dec;101(12):2693-703 - PubMed
    1. Am J Gastroenterol. 2008 Nov;103(11):2694-9 - PubMed
    1. Am J Epidemiol. 2008 Aug 1;168(3):237-49 - PubMed
    1. Eur J Gastroenterol Hepatol. 2010 Jun;22(6):669-78 - PubMed
    1. Jpn J Clin Oncol. 2011 May;41(5):731-2 - PubMed

MeSH terms

-