Somewhat good news for those with Barret’s esophagus.
Nebraska Medical Center, offers the BARRX Medical HALO ablation technology, which removes the diseased layer of cells from the esophagus and offers treatment of the disease before it has the chance to progress to cancer.
Ablation is a physical process where material is removed from the surface with vaporization, chipping or other erosive process. Specifically in HALO ablation effect is achieved by delivering heat energy to treatment area. The goal of the ablation is to remove cells modified by Barret’s esophagus process and reduce chance of esophageal cancer complication.
Ablation is performed in an outpatient setting and no incisions are required. According to clinical studies this procedure takes about 28 minutes but requires preparation before the procedure and there is some time afterwards where patients should be monitored.
For more details look at http://app1.unmc.edu/publicaffairs/todaysite/sitefiles/today_full.cfm?match=5503
This looks like a very good progress in prevention of esophageal cancer. Hopefully this procedure will prove to be successfull long term.
If you’d like to see where this procedure is performed talk to your doctor of nurse practitioner.