PITTSBURGH -- Over the long term, acid reflux can lead to precancerous conditions and even cancer.
WTAE Channel 4's Sally Wiggin reported that great strides are being made in the treatment of esophageal cancer, as well as the diagnosis and treatment of the precancerous condition known as Barrett's esophagus.
Ed Virostek not only had Barrett's, but the 82-year-old man also had superficial cancer.
"I never really had too much reflux," he said. "That is why I was surprised I had the Barrett's disease."
Because he is 82 and is being treated for prostate cancer and lymphoma, Virostek was not a candidate for complete removal of his esophagus.
"Did surgery through the mouth to remove the cancer, and then treated the Barrett's with a balloon, so we were able to take someone who actually had cancer and bring them back to a normal esophageal lining," said Dr. Blair Jobe, a surgeon at UPMC.
"I have been cancer-free of all three cancers," Virostek said.
Esophageal cancer is still not common, but it is lethal. The overall five-year survival rate is less than 15 percent.
Removal of the esophagus and making a new one out of the stomach can be done, but radio frequency ablation --using the balloon to burn Barrett's away -- can eliminate that drastic measure in some cases.
And now, there is an easier way to find out if you have Barrett's. It is the transnasal unsedated endoscopy, and it's done in an office.
Nine years ago, a sedated endoscopy had shown Wiggin was one step below Barrett's, so Jobe scoped her. The scope goes through the nose, down the throat and into the esophagus
"That's great, Sally. No Barrett's, no tumor," Jobe said.
Jobe believes that the procedure will help doctors understand why certain people with reflux develop Barrett's, but he said most people with that precancerous condition don't end up getting cancer.
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