%0 Journal Article %A T A Wright %A M R Gray %A A I Morris %A I T Gilmore %A A Ellis %A H L Smart %A M Myskow %A J Nash %A R J Donnelly %A A N Kingsnorth %T Cost effectiveness of detecting Barrett's cancer. %D 1996 %R 10.1136/gut.39.4.574 %J Gut %P 574-579 %V 39 %N 4 %X BACKGROUND: Screening Barrett's oesophagus is controversial owing to a large variation in the reported incidence of neoplastic change and lack of evidence that screening improves tumour prognosis. AIMS: To determine the incidence of Barrett's cancer, its cost of detection, and stage of disease at time of diagnosis. PATIENTS AND METHODS: Data from our surveillance programme have been reviewed to assess the incidence of malignant change, tumour stage at diagnosis, and the cost per cancer detected. RESULTS: 166 patients had annual endoscopic surveillance. Six patients (five men) developed cancer-an incidence of one cancer per 59 male and 167 female patient-years of follow up. The screened group had a significantly earlier stage than a control group of unscreened cancers (p < 0.05). The cost of detecting one cancer was Pounds 14 868 for men and Pounds 42 084 for women. CONCLUSIONS: The cost of screening for Barrett's cancer is high but may be justified on the basis of the high incidence of detecting early stage disease. %U https://gut.bmj.com/content/gutjnl/39/4/574.full.pdf