NEW YORK, May 19, 2011 /PRNewswire/ — Two studies
published in Digestive
Diseases and Sciences have demonstrated that an improved method
for performing the standard upper endoscopy examination done on
over eight million Americans with heartburn each year increases the
detection of pre-cancerous cells in the esophagus by over 40
percent.  Esophageal adenocarcinoma has increased by 600
percent over the last 25 years, making it the fastest growing form
of cancer in the United States.  It is also one of the most
lethal of cancers, with a five year survival rate of less than 20
percent.

The two large nationwide multi-center studies found the addition
of a specialized brush biopsy with computer-assisted laboratory
analysis of the specimen (EndoCDx®)
to the standard upper endoscopy procedure, significantly increases
the detection of both Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal dysplasia
(still-harmless, but pre-cancerous cells). This large increase in
detection was found in the study that included academic centers and
a second study that included community-based gastroenterology
practices.  

“Academic centers tend to perform numerous forceps biopsies on
each of the high risk patients that they follow. Seeking dysplasia
in a segment of Barrett’s esophagus is like looking for the
proverbial needle in a haystack. The fact that the brush biopsy
with computer-assisted tissue analysis was found to increase
detection by over 40 percent in even these highly experienced
esophageal GI specialty centers demonstrates the potential of this
technique,” said Sharmila Anandasabapathy, MD, chief of Endoscopy,
The Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York and lead author of the
academic center study.

This large increase in detection was accomplished in just a few
minutes, and with no increase in false positives or risk to the
pa

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