• Journal of Chest Surgery
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• v.41 no.6
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• pp.787-790
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• 2008

Barrett's esophagus is precancerous lesion of esophageal adenocarcinoma, but this has been rarely reported in Korea. A 81-year-old man with esophageal adenocarcinoma was admitted to our hospital, and we performed a distal esophagectomy and end-to-end esophagogastrostomy. The microscopic examination of the resected tissue revealed the intestinal metaplasia with goblet cells around the esophageal adenocarcinoma, which indicates this was a Barrett's esophagus. We report here on this case along with a review of the relevant literature.

• Journal of Digestive Cancer Research
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• v.11 no.1
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• pp.9-14
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• 2023

The prevalence of Barrett's esophagus is increasing in South Korea. Several strategies have been tried to prevent its progression to esophageal adenocarcinoma. It is questionable whether the strategies being tried in the West can be applied adequately in South Korea. However, despite the incidence of esophageal adenocarcinoma in the West, which is considerably higher than that in South Korea, the incidence of high-grade dysplasia/esophageal adenocarcinoma in population-based studies is as low as 0.23%/person-year. Therefore, in Korea, where the prevalence is lower than that, it is necessary to select high-risk groups more carefully for chemoprevention. The age of onset of gastroesophageal reflux disease-like symptoms at least once a week is related to the high-risk group rather than the presence or absence of chronic gastroesophageal reflux symptoms. The risk factors for esophageal adenocarcinoma include the patient's sex, age, smoking habit, and obesity. Proton pump inhibitors have a better preventive effect against esophageal adenocarcinoma compared to H2-receptor blockers, but their application to patients in Korea is limited due to the high number of individuals in need of treatment. Therefore, while considering the risk factors for the progression of esophageal adenocarcinoma, the administration of proton pump inhibitors should be considered for gastroesophageal reflux disease.