DIAGNOSIS OF ESOPHAGEAL ADENOCARCINOMA IN PATIENTS WITH RECENT SCREENING COLONOSCOPY
Sarah C. McKay*1,2, Christy M. Dunst1,2, Melissa DeSouza1,2, Kevin M. Reavis1,2, Daniel Davila Bradley1,2, Steven R. Demeester1,2
1The Oregon Clinic, Portland, OR; 2Providence Portland Medical Center, Portland, OR
INTRODUCTION
Screening colonoscopy (SC) is widely accepted and has been shown to decrease the rate of colorectal cancer death. Guidelines and acceptance of screening for Barrett's esophagus (BE) are less established despite the fact that esophageal adenocarcinoma (EA) remains the fastest increasing cancer in the United States. The aim of this study was to assess the frequency of SC in patients ultimately found to have EA, and to evaluate the presence of symptoms that might have prompted an esophagogastroduodenoscopy (EGD) and potentially earlier diagnosis of the EA.
METHODS
A retrospective chart review was performed to identify all patients who were referred to a single center with esophageal cancer between July 2016 and November 2022. Patients with any histology other than adenocarcinoma were excluded.
RESULTS
There were 221 patients referred with EA. Of these, a SC had been done prior to the diagnosis of EA in 108 patients (49%), 96 men and 12 women. The median age was 66.4 years. A total of 203 SC had been done (range 1-7 per patient). The median interval from SC to the diagnosis of EA was 2.88 years. The highest stage lesion found on SC was colorectal carcinoma in 2 patients and tubulovillous adenoma in 3 patients. There were 36 patients (33.3%) with no findings on SC. At the time of SC, gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) symptoms or regular acid suppression medication use was documented in 48.1% of patients (Table). In those with GERD symptoms, the symptoms had been present either life-long or for many years in 69% of patients. Only 19 patients (17.6%) that had a SC had an EGD at any time prior to the diagnosis of EA. In 8 patients, the EGD that found EA was done at the time of SC for anemia, regurgitation symptoms or new-onset dysphagia. A T1 lesion was found in 25% of these patients compared to only 7% of patients that had an EGD separate from the SC (p=0.059). Dysphagia was present at the time of SC in 9 patients, and in 3 patients a SC without an EGD was performed a median of 3 months prior to the EGD that showed EA.
CONCLUSIONS
Nearly one-half of patients ultimately diagnosed with EA had GERD symptoms for many years or were using acid suppression medications regularly at the time of SC, but did not undergo EGD. In 40% of the patients the SC was done within 2 years of the diagnosis of EA. The addition of an EGD at the time of SC in these patients may have allowed early detection of BE or EA.
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