Prevalence and predictors of Barrett’s esophagus and esophageal cancer in patients with eosinophilic esophagitis

Summary Data on Barrett’s esophagus (BE) and esophageal cancer (EC) outcomes in patients with eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE) are limited. We aimed to determine the risk of prevalent BE (<1 year after endoscopy), incident BE (≥1 year after endoscopy), and incident EC in patients with versus without EoE, and to identify predictors of BE/EC in EoE patients. We identified adult patients in the Merative MarketScan Database who underwent first-time upper endoscopy between 2008 and 2020. Chi-square analysis compared proportions of patients with versus without EoE who had BE or EC. Multivariate Cox regression determined associations between demographics/comorbidities and incident BE/EC in the EoE cohort, adjusting for established BE risk factors. Among 2,947,003 patients who underwent upper endoscopy, 20,588 patients (0.70%) had EoE (mean age 40.6 years, 63.8% male, gastroesophageal reflux disease in 44.9%). Prevalent BE, incident BE, and incident EC was found in 1.03%, 0.57%, and 0.06% of patients with EoE versus 1.06%, 0.54%, and 0.05% of patients without EoE, respectively (P = 0.13, 0.21, and 0.36, respectively). Among individuals with EoE, older age, male sex, presence of a hiatal hernia, gastroesophageal reflux disease, and location in North Central or Southern USA were independently associated with incident BE. Older age and prevalent BE were independently associated with incident EC. BE/EC risk in EoE is comparable to that of the baseline population undergoing upper endoscopy. Our findings support current understanding that EoE is not associated with an increased risk of BE/EC and reinforce that conventional BE screening strategies can be applied in patients with EoE.