Barrett's oesophagus and reflux oesophagitis : efficacy of medical vs surgical management

Funding Activity

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Funded Activity Summary

Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease is very common. In some people it leads to oesophageal cancer, which is increasing in incidence more rapidly than any other cancer in the developed world. Significant resources are required for its diagnosis, surveillance and treatment. There are two main forms of treatment, acid suppressing drugs which may be required for the rest of the person's life, or surgery. The goal of treatment is the control of the symptoms such as heartburn, and the prevention of cancer. It is relatively easy to determine if the symptoms are controlled, and both medical and surgical treatments do this. It is not as easy to measure if a treatment will reduce the risk of cancer, because it takes so long to develop. We will compare a group of patients with reflux disease treated with drugs with a group treated by surgery. In each group we will take oesophageal tissue before treatment and compare it with similar tissue taken after treatment. We will look for reductions in abnormal cells and genes that are in diseased tissue and are important in the development of cancer. This study will help us understand the mechanisms by which reflux causes damage to the oesophagus and how it ultimately leads to cancer. We will learn if medical or surgical treatment is better in healing the underlying damage in the oesophagus, and which treatment is more likely to prevent cancer developing. It may result in more effective management of reflux in our community and help reduce the number of cases of oesophageal cancer.

Funded Activity Details

Start Date: 01-01-2004

End Date: 01-01-2006

Funding Scheme: NHMRC Project Grants

Funding Amount: $510,750.00

Funder: National Health and Medical Research Council

Research Topics

ANZSRC Field of Research (FoR)

Surgery

ANZSRC Socio-Economic Objective (SEO)

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Other Keywords

Antireflux surgery | Barrett's oesophagus | Gastro-oesophageal reflux | Gastro-oesophageal reflux disease | Gastrointestinal disease | Lower oesophageal adenocarcinoma | Molecular markers | Neoplastic development