Esophageal cancer is a global health problem, with more than , new cases diagnosed per year worldwide and 20, new cases per year in the United States 1 , 2.
Despite advances in management techniques, esophageal cancer continues to have a grim prognosis because it is often detected after the emergence of alarm symptoms. The rationale behind screening and surveillance is to decrease morbidity and mortality through early detection and management of precursor lesions and cancer. We aim to perform a comprehensive review to highlight the recent screening and surveillance strategies for the detection of esophageal cancer.
BE is a metaplastic transformation of the distal esophageal mucosa from normal squamous non-keratinized epithelium to specialized columnar epithelium with intestinal metaplasia IM. This grim prognosis is attributed to paucity of symptoms at early stages and an aggressive growth pattern with early metastasis due to lymphatic abundance in the submucosa.
However, capturing the target population who would be most appropriate for endoscopic screening and surveillance has been a dilemma partly due to a low incidence of EAC at the population level, with a global incidence rate of 0. A systematic review and meta-analysis by Codipilly et al. A randomized study is in progress to evaluate the efficacy of surveillance in reducing mortality related to EAC With the advancement in BE risk prediction tools, minimally invasive, cost-effective screening devices, and novel endoscopic treatment modalities, this equation has changed favorably.
Screening in the general population is not recommended but can be considered for high-risk individuals Table 1 12 - Interestingly, individuals with GERD and one additional risk factor had a higher prevalence Each additional risk factor was associated with a 1.
