Does Endoscopic Surveillance of Barrett Esophagus Save Lives?

Controversy continues as to whether surveillance for dysplasia and esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) in patients with Barrett esophagus (BE) is cost-effective or preventative. In the current comprehensive systematic review and meta-analyses, surveillance of patients with BE was associated with lower EAC-related mortality (relative risks from different meta-analyses, 0.60 and 0.73) and all-cause mortality (hazard ratios, 0.75 and 0.48) and greater likelihood of EAC diagnosis at early stages of 0 and 1 (RRs, 2.1 and 5.5). However, adjustments for lead-time and length-time biases reduced or eliminated observed benefits in most analyses.