Listen to a blog summary of a trending research paper published in Volume 13 of Oncotarget, entitled, "Telomere shortening accelerates tumor initiation in the L2-IL1B mouse model of Barrett esophagus and emerges as a possible biomarker." ___________________________________ Smokers are significantly more likely than nonsmokers to have acid reflux. In many Western countries, a popular diet—known for its convenience, availability and, frankly, its lack of nutritional value—is also known to cause acid reflux. Some of the affordable foods and beverages easily accessible to Western consumers include fried food, fast foods, pizza, potato chips (and other processed snacks), high-fat meats (bacon, sausage), cheese, alcohol, soda, energy drinks, and etcetera. Unfortunately, this indulgent type of diet is accompanied by consequences beyond oily skin and an expanding waistband. BARRETT’S ESOPHAGUS Chronic acid reflux can lead to gastroesophageal reflux disease. Gastroesophageal reflux disease can lead to Barrett’s esophagus (BE). BE is a premalignant condition in which the lining of the esophagus becomes damaged by acid reflux. BE can lead to the onset of a type of cancer called esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC). Over the past few decades, statistics have reported that the incidence of EAC in Western populations is increasing. “Esophageal adenocarcinoma (EAC) is on the rise in western countries with increased incidence and high mortality [1, 2].” Since the popularity of smoking and a heartburn-inducing diet is likely to continue in the West, the early detection of EAC is critical for improving patient outcomes. If a biomarker could indicate a BE patient’s present risk of EAC, early EAC treatment could curb incidence and mortality rates. However, such a biomarker has yet to be confirmed. On February 14, 2022, researchers from Technische Universität München, Columbia University Irving Medical Center and Universitätsklinikum Freiburg published the research paper, “Telomere shortening accelerates tumor initiation in the L2-IL1B mouse model of Barrett esophagus and emerges as a possible biomarker,” in Oncotarget. “Here we aimed to provide functional evidence for the hypothesis that telomere shortening can directly contribute to tumor initiation, and thus serve as a potential biomarker for BE cancer risk stratification [22, 24].” Full blog - https://www.oncotarget.org/2022/07/15/how-heartburn-can-turn-into-esophageal-cancer-and-a-possible-biomarker/ DOI - https://doi.org/10.18632/oncotarget.28198 Correspondence to - Michael Quante - michael.quante@uniklinik-freiburg.de Sign up for free Altmetric alerts about this article - https://oncotarget.altmetric.com/details/email_updates?id=10.18632%2Foncotarget.28198 Keywords - Barrett's esophagus, telomere shortening, esophageal cancer, risk factor, TERT/TERC About Oncotarget Oncotarget is a peer-reviewed, open access biomedical journal covering research on all aspects of oncology. To learn more about Oncotarget, please visit https://www.oncotarget.com and connect with us: SoundCloud - https://soundcloud.com/oncotarget Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/Oncotarget/ Twitter - https://twitter.com/oncotarget Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/oncotargetjrnl/ YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/OncotargetYouTube LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/company/oncotarget Pinterest - https://www.pinterest.com/oncotarget/ Reddit - https://www.reddit.com/user/Oncotarget/ Oncotarget is published by Impact Journals, LLC: https://www.ImpactJournals.com Media Contact MEDIA@IMPACTJOURNALS.COM 18009220957