Cited by 4,841Acute Myeloid Leukemia ResearchCancer Genomics and DiagnosticsMultiple and Secondary Primary Cancers

Age-related clonal hematopoiesis associated with adverse outcomes

Open access
Jaiswal, Siddhartha, Fontanillas, Pierre, Flannick, Jason, Manning, Alisa, Grauman, Peter V., Mar, Brenton G., Lindsley, R. Coleman, Mermel, Craig H. +26 more·2014·New England Journal of Medicine

Abstract

BACKGROUND: The incidence of hematologic cancers increases with age. These cancers are associated with recurrent somatic mutations in specific genes. We hypothesized that such mutations would be detectable in the blood of some persons who are not known to have hematologic disorders. METHODS: We analyzed whole-exome sequencing data from DNA in the peripheral-blood cells of 17,182 persons who were unselected for hematologic phenotypes. We looked for somatic mutations by identifying previously characterized single-nucleotide variants and small insertions or deletions in 160 genes that are recurrently mutated in hematologic cancers. The presence of mutations was analyzed for an association with hematologic phenotypes, survival, and cardiovascular events. RESULTS: Detectable somatic mutations were rare in persons younger than 40 years of age but rose appreciably in frequency with age. Among persons 70 to 79 years of age, 80 to 89 years of age, and 90 to 108 years of age, these clonal mutations were observed in 9.5% (219 of 2300 persons), 11.7% (37 of 317), and 18.4% (19 of 103), respectively. The majority of the variants occurred in three genes: DNMT3A, TET2, and ASXL1. The presence of a somatic mutation was associated with an increase in the risk of hematologic cancer (hazard ratio, 11.1; 95% confidence interval [CI], 3.9 to 32.6), an increase in all-cause mortality (hazard ratio, 1.4; 95% CI, 1.1 to 1.8), and increases in the risks of incident coronary heart disease (hazard ratio, 2.0; 95% CI, 1.2 to 3.4) and ischemic stroke (hazard ratio, 2.6; 95% CI, 1.4 to 4.8). CONCLUSIONS: Age-related clonal hematopoiesis is a common condition that is associated with increases in the risk of hematologic cancer and in all-cause mortality, with the latter possibly due to an increased risk of cardiovascular disease. (Funded by the National Institutes of Health and others.).

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Integrity signals

Registry

Crossref · 10.1056/nejmoa1408617

Cites

47 of 47 references verified0 citation errors · 0 not checkable

Statistics

Claims the paper makes

The claims and statistics of this paper haven’t been checked yet.

Run the check — free, no account needed. It reads the open-access text and checks the sources it cites.

A few free checks a day · papers already verified open instantly · results are public

Claims other papers make about this one

Each is checked against this paper’s own text: does it say what the citing paper says it does?

  • Mutations in DNMT3A and TET2 account for over 90% of CH cases.

    “Mutations in DNMT3A and TET2 account for over 90% of CH cases2,6”

    From TET2-mutant myeloid cells mitigate Alzheimer’s disease progression via CNS infiltration and enhanced phagocytosis in mice (2025) · cites this paper as [2]

    The Results (Identification of Candidate Somatic Mutations; Increase in the Frequency of Clonal Somatic Mutations with Age, page unavailable) report 746 people with detectable mutations, including 403 DNMT3A variants and 72 TET2 variants. Even if each of those 475 variants occurred in a different person, they would account for at most about 64% of the detected cases, not over 90%. The paper notes that TET2 mutations were probably underrepresented because capture covered only part of the gene. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Checked by a reasoning model — may be wrong.

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • CHIP is associated with increased all-cause mortality and a broad spectrum of non-malignant diseases, most prominently atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and stroke.

    “CHIP has emerged as a clinically relevant state associated with increased all-cause mortality and a broad spectrum of non-malignant diseases, most prominently atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and stroke [1,4,5].”

    From Clonal Hematopoiesis of Indeterminate Potential as an Emerging Interdisciplinary Risk Factor in Alzheimer’s Disease: Current Evidence and Future Directions (2026) · cites this paper as [1]

    The Results sections on overall survival and cardiometabolic disease report increased all-cause mortality and associations with incident coronary heart disease, ischemic stroke, and type 2 diabetes. These support the named outcomes, but the paper does not establish the broader claim of a spectrum of non-malignant diseases beyond those cardiometabolic conditions. (LLM, conf=0.82)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • CHIP carriers have increased risk of all-cause mortality, largely due to cardiovascular disease and stroke.

    “CHIP carriers have an about 13-fold increased risk of developing myeloid hematological malignancies and an increased risk of all-cause mortality, largely due to cardiovascular disease and stroke.1, 2, 3, 4”

    From Aging drives <i>Tet2</i> <i>+/−</i> clonal hematopoiesis via IL-1 signaling (2023) · cites this paper as [2]

    The Results section on overall survival reports increased all-cause mortality and a higher risk of cardiovascular death among people with mutations. The cardiometabolic Results section reports increased incidence of ischemic stroke, but the Discussion says the excess mortality *may* be related to coronary heart disease and stroke. The paper does not establish that mortality was largely due to those conditions or identify stroke as a major cause of death. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • CHIP carriers have about a 13-fold increased risk of developing myeloid hematological malignancies.

    “CHIP carriers have an about 13-fold increased risk of developing myeloid hematological malignancies and an increased risk of all-cause mortality, largely due to cardiovascular disease and stroke.1, 2, 3, 4”

    From Aging drives <i>Tet2</i> <i>+/−</i> clonal hematopoiesis via IL-1 signaling (2023) · cites this paper as [2]

    The Results section (“Association of Somatic Mutations with the Risk of Hematologic Cancer”; page not provided) reports an 11.1-fold higher risk in people with detectable mutations. It does not report a 13-fold estimate specifically for myeloid malignancies; its estimate covers hematologic cancers more broadly. (LLM, conf=0.88)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
  • Progression to hematological malignancies depends on the type and complexity of mutations in CHIP.

    “Furthermore, progression to hematological malignancies depends on the type and complexity of mutations in CHIP.2,5,6”

    From Aging drives <i>Tet2</i> <i>+/−</i> clonal hematopoiesis via IL-1 signaling (2023) · cites this paper as [2]

    The Results sections on mutation frequency and hematologic-cancer risk report that clonal hematopoiesis usually involved one detected mutation, whereas hematologic cancers often have multiple driver mutations; they also link detectable mutations to higher cancer risk. The paper does not establish that progression depends on mutation type or complexity: its reported risk comparisons concern mutation presence and variant allele fraction, and it could not assess whether later tumors arose from the preceding mutant clones. Page numbers were not available in our copy. (LLM, conf=0.84)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

Self-check

Percentages, sums and reported differences re-computed from the paper’s own numbers.

The self-check needs the paper’s full text.

Cites

Flagged first, then by citations

1 of the 48 references couldn’t be matched to a known paper.

Cited by

Sorted by citations

Authors
Jaiswal, S., Fontanillas, P., Flannick, J., Manning, A., Grauman, P. V., Mar, B. G., Lindsley, R. C., Mermel, C. H., Burtt, N., Chavez, A., Higgins, J. M., Moltchanov, V., Kuo, F. C., Kluk, M. J., Henderson, B., Kinnunen, L., Koistinen, H. A., Ladenvall, C., Getz, G., Correa, A., Banahan, B. F., Gabriel, S., Kathiresan, S., Stringham, H. M., McCarthy, M. I., Boehnke, M., Tuomilehto, J., Haiman, C., Groop, L., Atzmon, G., Wilson, J. G., Neuberg, D., Altshuler, D., & Ebert, B. L.
Affiliations
  • Brigham and Women's Hospital (US)
  • Broad Institute (US)
  • University of Helsinki (FI)
  • University of Southern California (US)
  • Helsinki University Hospital (FI)
  • Lund University (SE)
  • University of Mississippi Medical Center (US)
  • University of Michigan (US)
  • Centre for Human Genetics (GB)
  • Universität für Weiterbildung Krems (AT)
  • Albert Einstein College of Medicine (US)
  • Harvard University (US)
Venue
New England Journal of Medicine
Published
2014-12-25
Volume
371
Issue
26
Pages
2488-2498
ISSN
  • 0028-4793 (ISSN-L)
  • 1533-4406
OpenAlex
W2149858388
Cited by
4,841
References
48
Citations by year
2026: 423 · 2025: 446 · 2024: 494 · 2023: 521 · 2022: 536 · 2021: 520 · 2020: 454 · 2019: 387 · 2018: 356 · 2017: 301 · 2016: 237 · 2015: 151 · 2014: 6 · 2013: 1 · 2012: 3
FWCI
164.25
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Locations
  • New England Journal of Medicine (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
  • Lund University Publications (Lund University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • STM:n Hallinnonalan avoin julkaisuarkisto (Julkari) (submittedVersion)
Funders
  • Wellcome Trust (090367, 085475, 098381, 090532, 083948)
  • National Institutes of Health (5rc2dk088389-02)
  • National Institute on Aging (R01AG042188, P01AG021654, P30AG038072)
  • National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (R01HL082945, T32HL066987)
  • National Human Genome Research Institute (U54HG003067)
  • National Cancer Institute (T32CA009216, T32CA009172, P01CA066996)
  • National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (U01DK085526, U01DK085584, DP2DK098087, U01DK085501, U01DK085524, RC2-DK088389, U01DK085545, DK088389, P30DK020572)
Topics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Hematology › Acute Myeloid Leukemia Research
  • Life Sciences › Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology › Cancer Research › Cancer Genomics and Diagnostics
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Epidemiology › Multiple and Secondary Primary Cancers
Keywords
age-related clonal hematopoiesis, somatic mutations, all-cause mortality, coronary artery disease, ischemic stroke, cardiovascular disease, DNMT3A, TET2, ASXL1, peripheral blood, aging
MeSH terms
Adult, Age Factors, Aged, Aged, 80 and over, Blood, Cell Transformation, Neoplastic, Clone Cells, DNA Mutational Analysis, Hematopoiesis, Hematopoietic Stem Cells, Humans, Middle Aged, Mutation, Risk Factors, Hematologic Neoplasms, Young Adult, Exome

About these checks

Registry, retraction, Cites and statistics results are computed, not judged, with one exception: a printed reference that no index lists is read once by a model before it counts as a citation error. Claims are extracted by a model and kept only when their quote appears verbatim in the text; each cited source is then checked, with a model’s help, for whether it says what the claim relies on. Those verdicts can be wrong — read the claim’s quote and the cited source before relying on one.

Statistics and arithmetic are recomputed, not judged.

Confidence bands are shown only for fields calibrated on our annotated test set. None is calibrated yet, so no band is shown.

What counts as a claim ›How we measure confidence ›How we check this ›

Are you an author, or do you see a problem with this page? Request a review