Biohit Oyj Press Release May 23, 2016 at 01:45 pm local time (EEST)
Low Pepsinogen I level diagnosed with GastroPanel® test predicts the risk for stomach cancer even years in advance. The result is evident in two separate recent studies among Asian and Caucasian population, where the subjects were followed-up for several years after GastroPanel® testing. Low Pepsinogen I level in the blood sample accompanied by high Gastrin-17 level, is a sign of atrophic gastritis of the corpus. The latter is known to be a risk factor for gastric cancer. The long-term predictive value of GastroPanel® test as a predictor of this risk has not been previously confirmed in a Caucasian population.
Biohit GastroPanel®-test consists of four biomarkers: Pepsinogen I and II (PGI, PGII), Gastrin-17 (G-17) and Helicobacter pylori -antibodies. The test is intended for diagnosis of Helicobacter pylori infection in dyspeptic patients and in health controls as well as for early detection and screening of atrophic gastritis and all associated risks caused by this infection or autoimmune disease. The test also reveals high acid output and its potential sequels. Asymptomatic atrophic gastritis, high acid output or symptomatic Helicobacter pylori infection are indications of gastroscopic examination (see Additional Information).
The two studies were conducted among Caucasian and Asian population
The first study was conducted among Caucasian population in Novosibirsk region in Western Siberia. A cohort of 9360 people was included in the study, derived from the local population, and the group was followed-up for 7-10 years to estimate the risk of gastric cancer. To calculate the predictive value of GastroPanel® test, 2 age- and sex-matched controls were selected for each gastric cancer patient. Blood samples taken from all subjects at the beginning of the follow-up were analysed with GastroPanel® test.
The study conducted in Taiwan had a very similar study design. The cohort size was 3514 and the follow-up time was up to 15 years (1995–2010). During the follow-up, 14 persons died of gastric cancer. In a multivariate model adjusted for several variables, low PGI was the best predictor of gastric cancer. Risk ratio (RR=3.24) was almost identical with the risk ratio (RR=2.9) obtained for PGI/PGII ratio in the Novosibirsk study.
Chief Medical Director Kari Syrjänen, Biohit Oyj: ‘These two important studies based on a long-term follow-up show consistently that the markers of GastroPanel® test indicating atrophic gastritis are highly reliable predictors of gastric cancer risk even at a 15-year time span. Similarly, the long-term negative predictive value of normal GastroPanel® test result is over 95 %, which helps identifying the high-risk persons also in a population-based screening.’
CEO Semi Korpela, Biohit Oyj: ’The two studies provide more convincing evidence that the cost-effective GastroPanel® innovation, providing a lot of information, is, among other things, an excellent test for screening of gastric cancer risk (see Additional Information).’
Articles:
Stomach-specific Biomarkers (GastroPanel) Can Predict the Development of Gastric Cancer in a Caucasian Population: A Longitudinal Nested Case-Control Study in Siberia (Kurilovich et al) Anticancer Research 36: 247-254 (2016).
The Association Between Serum Pepsinogen Testing and Death From Gastric Cancer: A sixteen-Year Population-Based Cohort Study (Lee et al.) Poster presentation at Digestive Disease Week, San Diego, California, May 22, 2016.
Additional information on GastroPanel® test can be found in the attachment
Additional information:
CEO Semi Korpela, Biohit Oyj
tel. +358 9 773 861
investor.relations@biohit.fi
www.biohithealthcare.com
Biohit in brief
Biohit Oyj is a globally operating Finnish biotechnology company. Biohit mission is “Innovating for Health” – we produce innovative products and services to promote research and early diagnosis. Biohit is headquartered in Helsinki, Finland, and has subsidiaries in Italy and the UK. Biohit Series B share (BIOBV) is quoted on NASDAQ OMX Helsinki in the Small cap/Healthcare group. www.biohithealthcare.com