CHIP in hematology

CHIP is the acronym for "clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential". This refers to the presence of clonal molecular genetic or cytogenetic alterations in blood or bone marrow cells in the absence of signs of haematological neoplasia and the absence of cytopenia.

The incidence of CHIP increases with age. While CHIP was only detected in rare cases in persons under 40 years of age, clonal hematopoiesis was already detected in about 10% of persons from the age of 70 years.

Similar to patients with MGUS (monoclonal gammopathy of unclear significance) or with MBL (monoclonal B-cell lymphocytosis), individuals with CHIP were also found to be at increased risk of developing hematologic neoplasia. This risk is increased 11- to 13-fold in individuals with clonal hematopoiesis, but the overall transformation rate is relatively low at 0.5-1% per year.

1. Genovese G et al.(2014) Clonal hematopoiesis and blood-cancer risk inferred from blood DNA sequence. NEJM 371:2477-2487.
2. Gibson CJ et al. (2017) Clonal Hematopoiesis Associated With Adverse Outcomes After Autologous Stem-Cell Transplantation for Lymphoma. J Clin Oncol 35:1598-1605.
3. Heuser M et al (2016) Clonal hematopoiesis of indeterminate potential. Dtsch Arztebl Int 113:317-322.