Endoscopic treatment for Barrett's oesophagus dysplasia and early cancer

Endoscopic treatment of early Barrett's oesophagus neoplasia is now proven to be a safe and effective alternative to oesophagectomy. An ideal candidate for endoscopic treatment should have dysplasia or carcinoma limited to the mucosa or superficial submucosa without lymphovascular invasion or poor differentiation. Two main types of endoscopic therapies are used: (1) endoscopic resection, which comprises of endoscopic mucosal resection or endoscopic submucosal dissection for removal of visible lesions en bloc and (2) endoscopic ablation utilising argon plasma coagulation, radiofrequency ablation or, more recently, cryotherapy. Although endoscopic resection is the cornerstone for Barrett's endotherapy, ablative techniques are complementary in achieving complete eradication of the columnar epithelium and dysplasia.