Description
Barretts esophagus confers significant risk of esophageal adenocarcinoma. We have established the cloning of patient-matched stem cells of Barretts, gastric, and esophageal epithelium. Transplantation of transformed Barretts stem cells yielded tumors with hallmarks of esophageal adenocarcinoma, whereas transformed esophageal stem cells produced squamous cell carcinomas. These findings define a stem cell target in a precancerous lesion for preemptive therapies.