Interim results from a nationwide clinical trial led by a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill researcher suggest that radiofrequency ablation is an effective treatment for dysplasia in people with Barrett's esophagus, a condition that can lead to deadly gastrointestinal cancer.
"The interim results show there is a substantial difference between treatment with radiofrequency ablation and a placebo or 'sham' treatment," said Dr. Nicholas Shaheen, principal investigator of the study and director of UNC's Center for Esophageal Diseases and Swallowing. "It's a strongly positive finding."
Shaheen, who is also an associate professor of medicine and epidemiology in UNC's Schools of Medicine and Public Health, presented the results Monday, May 19 at the annual Digestive Disease Week meeting in San Diego.
Barrett's esophagus is a condition in which repeated acid reflux causes the cells that normally line the esophagus to be replaced by a different type of cell, similar to those normally found in the intestines. This process is called intestinal metaplasia. By itself Barrett's is not a life-threatening problem, but a small percentage of people with Barrett's will develop esophageal adenocarcinoma, an especially deadly form of cancer.
Radiofrequency ablation, a non-invasive technique that uses thermal energy, or heat, to destroy cells, is very effective at destroying abnormal cells in the esophagus. The new UNC-led study is the first randomized trial to evaluate radiofrequency ablation for treating dysplasia, a more advanced stage of Barrett's esophagus in which the abnormal cells acquire precancerous traits.