GENEVA, Dec. 9 (Xinhua) -- About 500 doping samples from the Beijing Olympics will be retested for CERA and other illegal substances, the IOC said Tuesday.

About 400 blood tests searching for CERA, a new version of the endurance-enhancing hormone EPO, will be conducted at laboratories in Paris and Lausanne.

A further 100 urine samples will be checked for insulin at a WADA lab in Cologne, Germany. The lab recently perfected a test for the hormone, which can serve as an anabolic agent to enhance an athlete's performance.

The first results are expected at the end of March.

Six athletes tested positive, while three additional cases became known after the games and are still pending.

Rulings on the cases of Belarusian hammer throwers Vadim Devyatovskiy and Ivan Tsikhan, who won the silver and bronze medals, respectively, and Polish canoeist Adam Seroczynski are expected at the IOC executive board meeting which begins Wednesday in Lausanne.

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