microRNA expression in Barrett's esophagus and esophageal adenocarcinoma

Barrett's esophagus is a metaplastic condition of the distal esophagus, characterized by the replacement of normal squamous epithelium by columnar epithelium. Patients with BE have an increased risk of developing esophageal adenocarcinoma. MicroRNAs have been implicated to be disease and tissue specific, however limited data of microRNA expression in the esophagus is available. Therefore we evaluated microRNA expression profiles of esophageal adenocarcinoma and compared these with Barrett's esophagus and normal squamous esophagus. In total 12 samples were analyzed. 4 esophageal adenocarcinoma, 4 Barrett's esophagus and 4 normal squamous esophagus