Dr. Raj Patel, a Board-certified physician with over three decades of clinical experience, discusses the emerging role of clonal hematopoiesis (CH) testing and how blood-based genetic insights may help evaluate hidden cardiovascular and leukemia risks, supporting earlier intervention and more personalized preventive care.

CardioHemeRISK™ is a liquid biopsy-based NGS test that detects aging and lifestyle-related CH mutations using Lucence’s mirror barcoding technology. Speak to your healthcare provider to seek advice on your options.

Lucence's liquid biopsy product is not indicated or intended as a companion diagnostic, is not indicated or intended to supplant physician medical judgment, and is not indicated or intended to diagnose and/or to identify appropriate treatment options for a particular condition or disease.

The statements made by Dr. Raj represent the expertise of Dr. Raj, specifically, and do not necessarily represent the views of Lucence as an organization. Dr. Raj is a paid consultant of Lucence.

Video Transcript:

Younger people in the 40s and 50s are getting heart attacks, strokes. These are the people who don't meet traditional risk factors. So why is this happening? 

I'm Dr. Raj Patel. I am in practice for the last 34 years, and I'm a Board-certified physician. There are new tests coming on, and one of the tests that has really interested me is clonal hematopoiesis. What this test shows is there is a mutation in your stem cells. I read an article in the New England Journal of Medicine, and that study showed that if your stem cell shows a mutation, it will increase the risk of stroke, heart attack, and leukemia. 

So when we do this test, which is a simple blood test, what it shows is variant allele frequency, and this measures how many cells are abnormal. It gives us the signal that you may have inflammation in your blood vessels. Higher the mutated cells means higher inflammation, means higher risk of cardiovascular disease and leukemia.

I have done about 20 tests so far. Two cases are really mind-boggling to me.

One patient does have a family history of heart attack. He himself is obese and has hyperlipidemia. So when we did this test, his JAK2 mutation came back positive, which was shocking to me. I immediately referred him to the hematologist because I suspected that he is at risk or he may have leukemia.

Second patient, 50-year-old male, diabetes, hypertension, smoking for years. We did the test, came out positive, sat down, and I discussed, “You are at very high risk for heart attack and stroke.” I put him on daily aspirin. I called him after two weeks just to check on him. He hasn't had one cigarette since my visit, and he's taking his medication, including aspirin every day.

That's the power of this test, making a personalized test for everybody, which will change their lifestyle because it is their test. It is their result. This clonal hematopoiesis test does not replace what we are doing. This is a complementary test. We are catching this process at the earliest stage, and that's the beauty of this test. 

If you're 40 and above, if you just want to know that, “Am I at risk for stroke, heart attack, or leukemia?” Just talk to your doctor. It's a simple blood test, and in two weeks, you would have the answer.