A distinguished panel of experts will update attendees on best practices for diagnosing and treating Barrett’s esophagus during Sunday’s ASGE Clinical Symposium Barrett’s in 2017: Where Do We Stand?

“This symposium comes at a really exciting time. During the last decade, there have been tremendous advances in the treatment of pre-cancer and early cancer in Barrett’s esophagus,” said symposium co-chair Charles J. Lightdale, MD, FASGE, professor of medicine at Columbia University Medical Center and New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York. “We’ve basically seen endoscopic treatment become the treatment of choice for managing these conditions, rather than a full surgical removal of the esophagus.”

In the first presentation of the 90-minute symposium, Sharmila Anandasabapathy, MD, FASGE, professor of medicine in gastroenterology and director of Baylor Global Initiatives and the Baylor Global Innovation Center at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, will discuss strategies for finding dysplasia in Barrett’s esophagus patients.

John A. Dumot, MD, FASGE, professor of medicine at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine and director of the Digestive Health Institute at University Hospitals, Cleveland, OH, will discuss ablation for Barrett’s esophagus, including the addition of cryotherapy as an adjunct, and potentially an alternative, to radiofrequency ablation.

Next up, Sri Komanduri, MD, FASGE, associate professor of medicine and surgery at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, Chicago, will discuss endoscopic mucosal resection (EMR) in Barrett’s esophagus. EMR provides the best treatment for nodular lesions and, at the same time, is the most effective diagnostic and staging procedure for distinguishing between dysplasia and mucosal cancers treatable by endoscopy and later stage cancers.

In the final presentation, Amit Bhatt, MD, a therapeutic endoscopist in the department of gastroenterology and hepatology at the Cleveland Clinic, will discuss endoscopic submucosal dissection for Barrett’s esophagus, a newer procedure where larger lesions can be removed in one piece.

“The fact that endoscopy is not only the primary diagnostic method, but also now the primary treatment method for early neoplasia in Barrett’s esophagus has really made a huge difference in producing better outcomes for patients,” said Dr. Lightdale, who will co-chair the symposium with Kenneth K. Wang, MD, FASGE, director of the Advanced Endoscopy Group and Esophageal Neoplasia Clinic, and a consultant in the division of gastroenterology and hepatology at the Mayo Clinic, Rochester, MN.

Please refer to the DDW Mobile App or the Program section in Sunday’s DDW Daily News for additional details on this and other DDW^® events.