Is Photodynamic Therapy Effective for HGD Ablation in BE Patients?

PDT decreased risk for developing cancer but did not eliminate cancer.

Endoscopic ablative therapies for treating Barrett esophagus (BE)-related dysplasia include photodynamic therapy (PDT) and thermal therapy with laser, argon plasma coagulation, or multipolar electrocautery. Although promising, none of these techniques have been evaluated in a prospective randomized trial. In this 30-center, international, multicenter trial, researchers randomized 208 BE patients with biopsy-proven high-grade dysplasia (HGD) to receive omeprazole (20 mg twice per day) alone or with PDT.

After porfimer sodium injection, PDT was delivered using an esophageal centering balloon that flattens the esophageal folds. Nodular HGD areas were pretreated with bare fiber. In the first session, a BE segment no longer than 7 cm was treated.…

Reviewing Author

David A. Johnson, MD