title: [Carcinogenesis of Barrett's esophagus].
abstract: Barrett's esophagus is a premalignant condition and remains the number one risk factor for developing adenocarcinoma. Gastro-esophageal reflux disease is a strong risk factor for both esophageal adenocarcinoma and the precancerous lesion Barrett's esophagus. Both of these conditions are related to the reflux of acid and bile into the esophagus. This results in inflammation and cell damage which initiates a sequence of events termed the metaplasia-dysplasia sequence in which the squamous epithelium is replaced by columnar epithelium exhibiting increasing degrees of dysplasia and overt malignancy. The underlying disease mechanisms remain unclear, but tumor suppression genes (p53, p16, APC) and, oncogenes (K-ras, cyclin D1, c-erb-2) seem to cause the malignant transformation of Barrett's esophagus, and the genetic or epigenetic alterations of these genes have been reported.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Internal Medicine, Sapporo Medical University.
authors.forename: Takao
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Endo
authors.forename: Nobuaki
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Sugawara
authors.forename: Yasuhisa
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Shinomura
mesh_terms: D000230:Adenocarcinoma / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D001471:Barrett Esophagus / Q000209:etiology / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D002471:Cell Transformation, Neoplastic / Q000235:genetics; D004938:Esophageal Neoplasms / Q000209:etiology* / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology; D005764:Gastroesophageal Reflux / Q000150:complications; D015972:Gene Expression Regulation, Neoplastic; D016147:Genes, Tumor Suppressor; D006801:Humans; D007413:Intestinal Mucosa / Q000473:pathology; D008679:Metaplasia; D009154:Mutation; D009857:Oncogenes; D012307:Risk Factors