Barrett's esophagus (British English:
Barrett's oesophagus), sometimes called
Barrett syndrome,
Barrett esophagus, or
columnar epithelium lined lower oesophagus (
CELLO), refers to an abnormal change (
metaplasia) in the cells of the lower portion of the
esophagus. It is characterized by the replacement of the normal
stratified squamous epithelium lining of the esophagus by simple columnar epithelium with
goblet cells (which are usually found lower in the
gastrointestinal tract). The medical significance of Barrett's esophagus is its strong association (about 0.5% per patient-year) with
esophageal adenocarcinoma, a very often deadly
cancer, because of which it is considered to be a
premalignant condition.