Artificial Intelligence in the Management of Barrett’s Esophagus and Early Esophageal Adenocarcinoma

SIMPLE SUMMARY: Esophageal adenocarcinoma is increasing in incidence and is the most common subtype of esophageal cancer in Western societies. AI systems are currently under development and validation in many fields of gas-troenterology. ABSTRACT: Esophageal adenocarcinoma is increasing in incidence and is the most common subtype of esophageal cancer in Western societies. The stepwise progression of Barrett´s metaplasia to high-grade dysplasia and invasive adenocarcinoma provides an opportunity for screening and surveillance. There are important unresolved issues, which include (i) refining the definition of the screening population in order to avoid unnecessary invasive diagnostics, (ii) a more precise prediction of the (very heterogeneous) individual progression risk from metaplasia to invasive cancer in order to better tailor surveillance recommendations, (iii) improvement of the quality of endoscopy in order to reduce the high miss rate for early neoplastic lesions, and (iv) support for the diagnosis of tumor infiltration depth in order to guide treatment decisions. Artificial intelligence (AI) systems might be useful as a support to better solve the above-mentioned issues.