Balloon cytology in screening of asymptomatic alcoholics for esophageal cancer, Part I.

We assessed the feasibility of using balloon cytology to screen an asymptomatic group of alcoholics at increased risk for esophageal cancer. The results indicate that this group can be studied with minimal morbidity and that useful material can be obtained in 85% of subjects. Keratinization was present in 68% of specimens and fungus was noted in 9%. Individuals with moderate to large amounts of keratinization consumed significantly more alcohol than those without cytologic evidence of keratin. We speculate that keratinization and fungus may represent markers of enhanced malignant potential in this population.