A blood test before endoscopy: a practical first step for gastric cancer prevention in Europe
Press release
November 10th 2026, Brussels at 9.00 a.m. EET
A blood test before endoscopy: a practical first step for gastric cancer prevention in Europe
During Gastric Cancer Awareness Month, Biohit presents GastroPanel® to EU policymakers in Brussels—a blood-based triage tool to help Member States implement the EU’s gastric cancer screening recommendation.
Biohit Oyj, a Finnish health technology company, is hosting GastroPanel® Demo Day in Brussels on 10–11 November 2026. EU policymakers, stakeholders and media are invited to see how a single blood sample can provide information about the stomach lining, identify people at increased risk of gastric cancer and help direct endoscopy to those who need it most.
Why earlier detection matters
Gastric cancer remains one of the most lethal cancers in Europe. In 2020, an estimated 75,000 people in the EU-27 were diagnosed with it, and it was the seventh leading cause of cancer death. Incidence and mortality rates vary four-fold between Member States (ECIS 2020). Because the early symptoms of gastric cancer are common to many other, more frequent conditions, the disease is often diagnosed at an advanced stage, when treatment options are limited and costs are high.
Europe has set the direction. In December 2022, the Council of the European Union included gastric cancer in its cancer screening recommendation for the first time. It recommends that Helicobacter pylori screen-and-treat strategies be considered in countries and regions with high gastric cancer incidence and death rates, and that screening also address the identification and surveillance of patients with precancerous stomach lesions (Council of the EU 2022). In September 2026, the European Parliament’s Committee on Public Health (SANT) adopted a report on the implementation of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan, calling for better prevention, screening and treatment of H. pylori infections to prevent gastric cancer (ECL 2026).
The bottleneck is endoscopy capacity. Gastroscopy is resource-intensive and cannot be offered to everyone. GastroPanel is a blood test developed by Biohit that measures pepsinogen I and II, gastrin-17 and H. pylori antibodies. A single test indicates whether a person has an H. pylori infection and whether the stomach lining is healthy or shows atrophic gastritis, a key precursor of gastric cancer. GastroPanel therefore covers both elements of the Council recommendation: H. pylori detection and the identification of precancerous changes. Used as a triage test before the endoscopy decision, it helps reserve gastroscopy for patients whose results indicate risk. In a Finnish university hospital study, 86% of patients referred for gastroscopy had a normal GastroPanel result (Koivurova et al. 2025). In the Latin American HOPE Hp-GC programme, where a GastroPanel-based risk algorithm is used to prioritise endoscopy, the endoscopy waiting list at the pilot hospital fell by 87% (Uribe et al. 2026).
“Europe has already agreed that gastric cancer prevention belongs on the screening agenda. The question now is how Member States can put it into practice with the endoscopy capacity they already have. By providing information about the condition of the stomach lining before endoscopy, a simple blood test can help clinicians prioritise patients, make better use of limited resources and identify precancerous changes while there is still time to act,” says Jussi Hahtela, CEO of Biohit Oyj.
The GastroPanel Demo Day takes place at Nordic Spaces Palmerston, Avenue Palmerston 3, 1000 Brussels, on 10–11 November 2026 from 10:00 to 17:00. Visitors can see how the test works in practice, from sample collection to results and interpretation, and discuss how GastroPanel could support risk-based screening and a more efficient use of healthcare resources. Invited guests and media can drop in at any time or book a time slot via marianne@lykkeadvice.eu.
About Biohit
Biohit Oyj is a Finnish HealthTech company founded in 1988, operating in global markets. The diagnostics company develops and commercialises innovations for the diagnosis and monitoring of gastrointestinal diseases. Its headquarters and product development are located in Helsinki, and it has a subsidiary in the United Kingdom. Biohit sells its products through a partner network in more than 50 countries across Europe, Asia, Latin America and the Middle East. Biohit’s B shares are listed on Nasdaq Helsinki.
Information for the media
How GastroPanel fits the EU screening framework
| EU priority | What GastroPanel provides |
| H. pylori screen-and-treat in high-incidence countries and regions (Council of the EU 2022) | H. pylori antibodies indicate infection, so positive individuals can be referred for treatment. |
| Identification and surveillance of precancerous stomach lesions, including those unrelated to H. pylori (Council of the EU 2022) | Pepsinogen I and II and gastrin-17 indicate atrophic gastritis in the corpus and antrum, including autoimmune atrophic gastritis. |
| Evidence on real-life effectiveness and feasibility (Council of the EU 2022) | Published validation against biopsy histology in Finland and the United Kingdom, and programme use in Latin America. |
| Efficient use of endoscopy capacity (Beating Cancer Plan implementation) | Triage before the endoscopy decision: gastroscopy is targeted at patients whose results indicate risk. |
Published clinical evidence
Finland: At Oulu University Hospital, 522 patients referred from primary care for gastroscopy were studied. Agreement between GastroPanel and biopsy histology was excellent (weighted kappa 0.861). Gastroscopy could be targeted at fewer than 10% of patients (Koivurova et al. 2025).
United Kingdom: In a prospective study of 268 patients at Homerton University Hospital, London, GastroPanel agreed with histology in 90% of cases. The researchers consider it a reliable triage test for dyspeptic patients (Papadia et al. 2025).
India: The GastroPanel® quick test was evaluated in 266 gastroscopy referral patients. Diagnostic accuracy was AUC 0.990 for pepsinogen I and 0.971 for the PGI/PGII ratio (Chhabra et al. 2025).
Chile: In the Latin American HOPE Hp-GC programme, a risk algorithm based on GastroPanel biomarkers is used to prioritise patients for endoscopy. In the pilot, the endoscopy waiting list at Santa Rosa de Molina hospital fell by 87% (Uribe et al. 2026).
References
- Council of the European Union. Council Recommendation of 9 December 2022 on strengthening prevention through early detection: a new EU approach on cancer screening (2022/C 473/01). OJ C 473, 13.12.2022, p. 1–10.
- European Cancer Information System (ECIS). Stomach cancer burden in EU-27, 2020 estimates. European Commission, JRC.
- European Cancer Leagues (ECL). The EU Parliament’s health committee calls for strong measures to continue implementation of Europe’s Beating Cancer Plan. 28 September 2026.
- Chhabra M et al. Point-of-Care Diagnosis of Atrophic Gastritis by Serological Biomarker Test (GastroPanel® Quick Test) in Gastroscopy Referral Patients in India. J Clin Med. 2025;14(3):787. doi:10.3390/jcm14030787
- Koivurova OP et al. Uniformity Between Serological Biomarker Test, Esophago-gastro-duodenoscopy and Biopsy Histology in Triage of Upper Abdominal Symptoms in Gastroscopy Referral Patients. Anticancer Res. 2025;45(12):5491–5501. doi:10.21873/anticanres.17884
- Papadia C et al. Can GastroPanel be used as a triage tool to select patients with advanced atrophic gastritis for gastroscopy? A prospective clinical validation study. BMJ Open Gastroenterol. 2025;12(1):e001559. doi:10.1136/bmjgast-2024-001559
- Uribe J et al. Hope Hp-GC Project: Program Implementation for Primary and Secondary Prevention of Gastric Cancer in Latin America. Helicobacter. 2026;31:e70109. doi:10.1111/hel.70109
Further information
Jussi Hahtela CEO, Biohit Oyj
Tel. +358 50 383 5948
Available for meetings at the GastroPanel® Demo Day, Nordic Spaces Palmerston, Brussels, 11 November 2026.
Demo Day bookings: marianne@lykkeadvice.eu