Panagene Inc. products

KRAS mutation is found in several cancers such as pancreatic cancer, colorectal cancer, lung cancer, biliary tract cancer and thyroid cancer. The existence of KRAS mutations is often related with a prognostic marker to drug response. For example, KRAS mutation is considered a strong prognostic marker for drug response of tyrosine kinase inhibitors such as Gefitinib (Iressa) or Erlotinib (Tarceva). Recently, KRAS mutation is often detected in colorectal cancer and may be related with drug response to Cetuximab (Erbitux) or Panitumumab (Vectibix) that is used for colon cancer therapy. Therefore, examination of KRAS mutation is needed to determine drug resistance of patients with colorectal or lung cancers and will be helpful for cancer therapies.

NRAS mutation is found in several cancers such as melanoma (13~25%), colorectal cancer (1~6%), lung cancer (1%), thyroid cancer (7%) and hepatocellular carcinoma (10%). It is know that the drug response against colorectal cancer medicine such as Erbitux and Cetuximab decreased and the prognosis of the metastatic colorectal cancer patient is bad if the patient has NRAS mutation. Recently, there are some papers that report the drug responses can be different for the NRAS mutation type so it is important to genotype each mutation. NRAS gene mutation genotyping test is necessary especially for predicting the drug sensitivity and prognosis. This test expected to play a major role for predicting the treatment of the patients and prognosis.

According to the WHO report (2008), human papillomavirus (HPV) causes virtually 100% of cases of cervical cancers. There are more than 100 genotypes of HPV reported currently, and HPV consists of double helix circular DNA with ca. 7,900 bps. Compared to the traditional Pap smear test, HPV genotyping has several advantages; 1) high accuracy of determining existence of HPV viruses, 2) genotyping of the HPV viruses, 3) early diagnosis, 4) identifying patients harboring HPV with high risk type, and 5) contribution to prevention and therapy of cervical cancers in the end.

HPV is well-known as as major cause of cervical cancer. More than 40 pathogens in 100 kinds of HPV has been found in female genital organ. The High-Risk group of those viruses is generally known for a direct correlation with cervical cancer. That is why WHO highly recommend the HPV DNA test. PANA RealTyper™ HPV Kit can detect 14 pathogens of High risk group and 2 pathogens of Low risk group. With the Real-time PCR technology, it can quickly and accurately show the test results about whether patients have those pathogens or not, and also it can be used as a screening test.

BRAF mutation is found in several cancers including thyroid cancer, malignant melanoma, ovarian cancer, colorectal cancer. In case of thyroid cancer, there are over 40 different types of BRAF mutation. Of these mutations, the V600E mutation on exon 15, i.e. change of nucleotide from T to A in 1799th base that results in change from valine to glutamate in amino acids, is most important with over 90% of frequency. Especially, BRAF V600E mutation is detected with ca. 45% of frequency in papillary thyroid carcinoma and is considered a prognostic maker for thyroid cancer.

Mutations of IDH1 (isocitrate dehydrogenase 1,IDH1) can be found in glioblastoma and myeloproliferative neoplasm. Detection of IDH1mutations can be a positive predictor of a prognosis and a molecular marker for glioblastoma patients. On the other hand, it is reported that IDH1 mutations correlate with poor prognosis in myeloproliferative neoplasm. PNAClamp™ IDH1 Mutation Detection Kit is a new member of somatic mutation detection kits utilizing PNA-mediated PCR Clamping technology, and can help patients choose the right medicine and monitor prognosis.

PANAMutyper™ EML4-ALK Screening Kit is the qualitative diagnostic test kit which is able to detect 16 different EML4-ALK fusion genes of tissue from non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients using peptide nucleic acid (PNA) probes in a real-time PCR system. The PANAMutyper™ EML4-ALK Screening Kit is intended as an aid for screening EML4-ALK fusion-positive NSCLC patients who would be sensitive for receiving ALK inhibitor therapy such as crizotinib.