INVESTIGATING THE CLINICAL AND MOLECULAR ASPECTS OF THE DIAGNOSIS OF BARRETT?s ESOPHAGUS ? AN ASIAN PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

Barrett’s esophagus (BE) is a premalignant condition associated with the development of esophageal adenocarcinoma.

We noted that in Asia, reflux symptoms are non-diagnostic of BE.

Endoscopically we performed a real time diagnosis study of Barrett’s esophagus. We noted that neither white light endoscopy or probe based confocal laser endomicroscopy as modalities were sufficiently strong to confirm a diagnosis of BE.

From a molecular marker perspective, we noted for the first time that FABP was most accurate for the diagnosis of BE. We also proved for the first time that HEPAR was diagnostic of Barrett’s associated dysplasia.

We localised for the first time CEACAM6 as a novel marker for BE. We also demonstrated its potential as a fluorescently tagged marker for enhanced endoscopic detection.