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Updated: Oct 14, 2025

An Immunofluorescent Method for Characterization of Barrett’s Esophagus Cells
Published on: July 20, 2014
Evolutionary dynamics in Barrett oesophagus: implications for surveillance, risk stratification and therapy
Melissa Schmidt1,2, Richard J Hackett3, Ann-Marie Baker1
1Evolution and Cancer Laboratory, Centre for Genomics and Computational Biology, Barts Cancer Institute, Barts and The London School of Medicine and Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK.
None:
Cancer development is a dynamic evolutionary process characterized by marked intratumoural heterogeneity at the genetic, epigenetic and phenotypic levels. Barrett oesophagus, the pre-malignant condition to oesophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC), is an exemplary system to longitudinally study the evolution of malignancy. Evidence has emerged of Barrett oesophagus lesions pre-programmed for progression to EAC many years before clinical detection, indicating a considerable window for therapeutic intervention. In this Review, we explore the mechanisms underlying clonal expansion and contraction that establish the Barrett oesophagus clonal mosaicism over time and space and discuss intrinsic genotypic and extrinsic environmental drivers that direct the evolutionary trajectory of Barrett oesophagus towards a malignant phenotype. We propose that understanding and exploiting the evolutionary dynamics of Barrett oesophagus will identify novel therapeutic targets, improve prognostic tools and offer the opportunity for personalized surveillance programmes geared to prevent progression to EAC.
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