Modern colorectal cancer screening test on the market from Finland

Biohit Oyj Press Release May 12, 2015 at 9:30 a.m. local time (EEST)

An international study comparing colorectal cancer screening tests has been completed and the scientific report has been published in an international cancer journal - Anticancer Research. (ANTICANCER RESEARCH 35: 2873–2880 (2015))

The study compared two fecal occult blood (FOB) tests by examining a cohort of 300 patients (all referred for colonoscopy), using the new-generation Biohit ColonView fecal immunochemical Test (FIT) and a traditional FOB test. The results indicate that ColonView was superior to the conventional FOB test in colorectal cancer screening due to its significantly higher sensitivity and specificity. ColonView quick test detects both hemoglobin (Hb) and hemoglobin-haptoglobin (Hb/Hp) complex, whereas the FOB test is only for detection of Hb.

Colorectal cancer develops over years through precursors (polyps and adenomas) which can be detected in colonoscopy and removed at the same time, thus preventing the development of cancer. Colorectal cancer is one of the few human malignant tumors, which is suitable for population-based screening. Since 2004, a colorectal cancer screening pilot program has been ongoing in Finland using a FOB test. The known weakness of the FOB test is its non-specificity for human blood, which results in significant proportion of false positive alarms making a screening with FOB tests not cost-effective.

Chief Medical Director Kari Syrjänen, Biohit Oyj: ‘In the published study, ColonView is clearly more sensitive (94%) as compared with the competing FIT tests. According to a recent meta-analysis, the average sensitivity of the FIT tests available on the market is about 80%. This difference was most significant in detecting the neoplasia of the proximal colon, of which the FOB test based  solely on Hb-detection found less than 50%, whereas ColonView detected them all.’

CEO Semi Korpela, Biohit Oyj: ‘Colorectal cancer is one of the most preventable cancers. ColonView is the state of the art screening test for early diagnosis of cancer precursor. ColonView screening is worthwhile, even if you don’t have any symptoms, because it can find polyps, alert you to changes in your colon and find the colorectal cancer risk early when it is still treatable. ColonView complements the GastroPanel test in the examination of dyspepsia, as these symptoms can also originate from the colon, and/or the blood found in the stool sample can be derived from the stomach.'

Article in Anticancer Research journal: http://ar.iiarjournals.org/content/35/5/2873.full

Attachment: Additional information (pdf)

Attachment: Article in Anticancer Research (pdf)

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’s 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's Series B share (BIOBV) is quoted on Nasdaq Helsinki in the Small cap/Healthcare group. www.biohithealthcare.com