The Discovery and Validation of Biomarkers for the Diagnosis of Esophageal Squamous Dysplasia and Squamous Cell Carcinoma.

The 5-year survival rate of esophageal cancer is less than 10% in developing countries, where more than 90% of these cancers are esophageal squamous cell carcinomas (ESCC). Endoscopic screening is undertaken in high incidence areas. Biomarker analysis could reduce the subjectivity associated with histologic assessment of dysplasia and thus improve diagnostic accuracy.

The WATCHMAN device for stroke prophylaxis in atrial fibrillation: an evolving niche.

Atrial fibrillation is associated with a markedly increased risk of thromboembolic stroke. At present, lifelong antithrombotic therapy with warfarin or a novel oral anticoagulant is indicated for prophylaxis in the majority of patients. Left atrial appendage occlusion devices have been developed as an alternative to these agents, aiming to avoid issues around consistency of anticoagulation, bleeding risk, and drug-related side effects.

The combination of autofluorescence endoscopy and molecular biomarkers is a novel diagnostic tool for dysplasia in Barrett's oesophagus.

Objective: Endoscopic surveillance for Barrett's oesophagus (BO) is limited by sampling error and the subjectivity of diagnosing dysplasia. We aimed to compare a biomarker panel on minimal biopsies directed by autofluorescence imaging (AFI) with the standard surveillance protocol to derive an objective tool for dysplasia assessment.

Design: We performed a cross-sectional prospective study in three tertiary referral centres.