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Disease mechanisms

Out with the old, in with the new

Nature Reviews Cancer volume 11, page 536 (2011)Cite this article

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Barrett's oesophagus, a precursor of oesophageal adenocarcinoma, is thought to be induced by acid reflux. One hallmark of this disease is a change from the stratified (layered) squamous oesophageal epithelium to a columnar, intestinal-like epithelium, a process known as metaplasia. How and why this occurs is an area of debate, and new research proposes that this metaplasia is caused by an opportunist population of embryonic cells that repopulate the acid-reflux-damaged oesophagus.

This metaplastic tissue resembled human Barrett's metaplasia both histologically and by gene expression analysis

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ORIGINAL RESEARCH PAPER

  1. Wang, X. et al. Residual embryonic cells as precursors of a Barrett's-like metaplasia. Cell 145, 1023–1035 (2011)

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  1. Darren J. Burgess
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Burgess, D. Out with the old, in with the new. Nat Rev Cancer 11, 536 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrc3116

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