Mucosal Ablation Techniques for Barrett's Esophagus and Early Esophageal Cancer

Patients with esophageal intestinal metaplasia, or Barrett's esophagus, may undergo dysplastic changes that eventually lead to invasive adenocarcinoma. Endoscopic therapy in the form of radiofrequency ablation and cryoablation has been described as a minimally invasive intervention to halt this sequence of dysplasia to carcinoma. Studies demonstrate that the use of radiofrequency ablation and cryoablation is highly successful at eradicating intestinal metaplasia and dysplasia and reducing the risk of disease progression. Furthermore, these modalities also may be used in combination with endoscopic mucosal resection, or as stand-alone therapy, for the treatment of intramucosal carcinoma, potentially circumventing the need for surgery.