MicroRNA expression signatures in Barrett's esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma

Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) is a highly aggressive malignancy that frequently develops from Barrett’s esophagus (BE), a premalignant pathological change occurring in the lower end of esophagus. To identify BE patients at high risk of malignant transformation is essential to the prevention of EAC. Although microRNA (miRNA) expression signatures have been associated with the etiology and prognosis of several types of cancers, their roles in the development of EAC have not been extensively evaluated. We analyzed the expression patterns of 470 human miRNAs using Agilent miRNA microarray in 32 disease/normal-paired tissues from 16 patients diagnosed with BE of either low or high grade dysplasia, or EAC