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But what they don’t know can hurt them. Left untreated, the condition can lead to Barrett’s esophagus, which in turn can put patients at risk for esophageal cancer, one of the most deadly forms of cancer.

The reason Barrett’s esophagus matters is that patients with at least 3 centimeters of Barrett’s esophagus lining have a 30- to 125-fold increased risk of esophageal cancer compared to the general population. Although the cancer risk figures initially sound frightening, only 3 to 10 percent of persons with Barrett’s esophagus will develop cancer in their lifetime.

At this weeks national scientific meeting Digestive Diseases Week, Mayo Clinic researchers are presenting new research on the use of fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) tests to determine which patients with heartburn might have something more serious.

Right now, our best indicator of the seriousness of Barrett’s esophagus is the degree of dysplasia, or precancerous changes, found on a biopsy, says Kenneth Wang, M.D., gastroenterologist at Mayo Clinic. However, physicians have to biopsy multiple areas of the esophagus and they still may not detect the pre-cancerous cells. Fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH) could allow for us to change the way doctors diagnose Barretts esophagus.

While traditional cytology analysis relies on identifying abnormally shaped cells, the FISH test detects malignant cells using colored DNA probes for specific abnormal genes visible with a fluorescence microscope. Since cancer cells have an abnormal amount of DNA, by FISH these cells show more of the probes compared to normal cells. The advantage of these techniques is that they can easily applied by any endoscopist and the diagnosis can be made on a single abnormal cell.

If you are interested to cure your heartburn naturally without taking any medication, you will like to check this out:

If you are interested to cure your heartburn naturally without taking any medication, you will like to check this out:

If you are interested to cure your heartburn naturally without taking any medication, you will like to check this out:

If you are interested to cure your heartburn naturally without taking any medication, you will like to check this out:

If you are interested to cure your heartburn naturally without taking any medication, you will like to check this out:

If you are interested to cure your heartburn naturally without taking any medication, you will like to check this out:

If you are interested to cure your heartburn naturally without taking any medication, you will like to check this out:

Nearly 13,000 Americans will be diagnosed with esophageal cancer this year, and it could be fueled by something as common as acid reflux.

But thanks to new guidelines doctors can zap away the damage before the cancer can form.

A normal day for Tom Geocaris consists of a lot of exercising. You can’t tell by looking at him, but just a few years ago, Tom’s life went from normal to near deadly.

“It started out as occasional heartburn maybe after big meals and holidays, and then it got to be more frequent,” said Tom.

His acid reflux had developed into Barrett’s Esophagus. It’s where the lining of the esophagus is damaged by stomach acid. If left untreated the condition could turn into cancer.

“About a 300-fold increase in the risk of cancer of the esophagus in people with Barrett’s Esophagus,” said Dr. George Triadafilopoulos, a gastroenterologist at Stanford Hospital.

In the past, Barrett’s was often treated with surgery that included serious risks and side effects. Triadafilopoulos used a newer and less-invasive approach to burn off Tom’s pre-cancerous cells.

During the half-hour radiofrequency ablation procedure, a tool is inserted into the esophagus and touches the Barrett’s tissue. Then the balloon is inflated and releases energy that literally burns the Barrett’s away.

The balloon is then deflated and removed with minimal complications or pain.

Until now doctors took a wait-and-see approach with high-risk Barrett’s patients to see if cancer would develop, but new recommendations say these patients can’t afford to wait and should be treated immediately.

While Tom still has occasional heartburn, his Barrett’s is gone, he’s cancer-free and he’s back to his normal routine.

“I feel pretty secure about the situation. Normal’s very good,” said Tom.

After the procedure, most patients still have to take medication to control their acid reflux.

Doctors say if you have frequent heartburn and your symptoms become significantly worse, it’s a good idea to get it checked out.

Radiofrequency ablation is covered by Medicare and some private health insurance plans.

[Source: ABCNews]

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Patients with esophageal cancer often get bad news: The disease has only a 16 percent survival rate five years after surgery.

The main reason: They may not notice symptoms, such as difficulty swallowing, until the cancer has reached an advanced stage and is incurable.

But doctors say a new treatment at Boca Raton Regional Hospital may help prevent the cancer, one of the fastest growing in the United States, by eliminating pre-cancerous lesions in patients with Barrett’s esophagus, a condition that can lead to esophageal cancer.

The esophagus is the muscular tube that connects the mouth with the stomach. Nearly 40 percent of Americans experience heartburn or acid reflux, when the stomach contents back up into the esophagus.

The esophagus can try to defend itself by changing its lining to resist the acid, said Dr. Stephen Steinberg, director of the hospital’s Pancreas and Biliary Center. The new lining is Barrett’s esophagus.

Steinberg said patients with Barrett’s need to be checked every year to make sure the condition does not become cancerous. Just a few years ago, people with pre-cancerous changes had esophagectomies, or the surgical removal of the diseased part of their esophaguses.

But, he said, a new machine at the hospital, the BARRX HALO, performs a controlled burn on the surface layer of the diseased esophagus, allowing normal tissue to grow back and leading to a better survival rate.

A New England Journal of Medicine report published in May showed 77 percent of people treated with the burn totally eliminated the abnormal growth of cells.

“It’s as good as an esophagectomy,” Steinberg said. “You’re taking people with a small risk [of developing cancer] and preventing that risk from being realized.”

Not everyone with Barrett’s develops cancer, although the risk for people with the disease is more than 40 times higher than for the average person.

“The incidence of Barrett’s increases in people with [reflux] for five years or more,” Steinberg said. “The advantage of the HALO is that it has a very controlled depth of burn, so that only the surface layer is burned, and it is a very efficient way to treat relatively large areas in a short procedure.”

Dr. Afonso Ribeiro, a gastroenterologist and associate professor of clinical medicine at the University of Miami’s Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center, said HALO procedures are easier for patients to tolerate than previous treatments, such as lasers, which can have painful side effects.

But, he said, some doctors misuse the new technology to treat cancer when it should be used only for pre-cancerous conditions.

More than 1,000 doctors across the country have been trained in the technology, including 115 in Florida at 35 sites, said Lisa Bichsel, director of marketing for BARRX Medical.

“My concern is doctors will overuse it,” said Ribeiro, who has used a HALO to treat Barrett’s at the university since 2008. “A lot of doctors use the machine and don’t know how to treat the bad areas.”

Phillip Bathgate Sr. of West Palm Beach, a retired police officer and security director, said he had heartburn for much of his adult life, which led to a diagnosis of Barrett’s. He said he took Nexium to relieve symptoms but ultimately developed pre-cancerous lesions.

He said he has had two of three procedures scheduled with Steinberg and was surprised by how little discomfort he experienced.

“I lived with heartburn for 20 years,” said Bathgate, 78. “Now I feel fine and my appetite is improving.”

[Source: Sun-sentinel.com]

If you are interested to cure your heartburn naturally without taking any medication, you will like to check this out: