The Barrett's Oesophagus Foundation Mission

Founded as a charity in 1999, the Barrett's Oesophagus Foundation is the only national charity dedicated to the prevention of cancer from Barrett's Oesophagus and the support of people living with the disease.

The Foundation is a member of the Association of Gastrointestinal Charities and is well supported by distinguished members of the medical community.

Our aims are:

to expand and support long term the United Kingdom Barrett's Oesophagus Registry (UKBOR). The Register is contributed to by clinicians nationally to enable doctors and other scientists to obtain a more complete understanding of the condition known as 'Barrett's Oesophagus'
to provide a support and education service to sufferers from Barrett's Oesophagus and its complications and their relatives
to support studies which aim to understand and prevent cancer from developing patients with Barrett's Oesophagus
make publicly available the results of any specific and educational activity initiated or supported by the charity
as our understanding of Barrett's Oesophagus improves it is hoped that we will be able to prevent adenocarcinoma of the oesophagus

Whilst the incidence of stomach cancer has been falling since the 1930s, cases of oesophageal cancer have been increasing. It is also known that the incidence of Barrett's is increasing in the UK.

The type of oesophageal cancer associated with Barrett's (adenocarcinoma) is increasing in frequency faster than any other cancer in the western world and has increased three fold in the past decade. Where cancer has developed from Barrett's, the survival rate is very poor; eight out of ten people with this type of cancer will die within five years. However, where the cancer can be detected earlier, through regular examination of people with Barrett's, the survival rate can increase dramatically with up to 80% of people surviving five years.

Little is known as to why and when a proportion of Barrett's patients will develop cancer. However, there is strong evidence to suggest that effective treatment and management of Barrett's could delay and even prevent the onset of oesophageal cancer.

Whilst a number of organisations are providing research into various digestive disorders, none are dedicated to Barrett's and in particular, the link between Barrett's and oesophageal cancer. In addition, there is no scientific evidence to suggest which method of treatment of Barrett's is the most successful.

Many Barrett's patients are becoming increasingly concerned at the risk of developing cancer. Despite the frequency of Barrett's in the UK, there is no support of, nor appropriate information available for patients and their families, dedicated to the best treatment and management of their disease. A study into the needs of Barrett's patients has recently been conducted by one of the Trustees (Dr Rebecca C Fitzgerald) and presented at a national medical conference. The majority of patients felt they required more information, particularly relating to the cancer risk.

From the current figures available:

at least 375,000 people in the UK are estimated to have Barrett's Oesophagus
37,500 of these people would develop oesophageal cancer
up to 30,000 people would die within five years

To prevent this epidemic rise in this type of cancer, we urgently need to understand more about Barrett's; the relationship between Barrett's and cancer and the most effective method of treatment of Barrett's in order to reduce the incidence, and ideally prevent the development of cancer.

The Barrett's Oesophagus Foundation Mission

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