Quiz: Hematology

Hematology is the study, diagnosis, and treatment of diseases related to the blood. These diseases can affect different parts of the blood – including red blood cells, white blood cells, platelets, or plasma – and prevent blood from doing its normal jobs within the body. Take this quiz to test your knowledge about these diseases and learn more about advancements in research and treatment.

Looking for more ways to test your knowledge? Check out our flashcards here.

1. What is the most common type of adult leukemia?1

Chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML)
Chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL)
Acute myeloid leukemia (AML)
Acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL)
There will be an estimated 20,380 new cases of AML in 2023.

2. How many different types of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma (NHL) are there?2

Just 1
Between 5-10
Between 25-50
More than 60
There are more than 60 different types of NHL, which are grouped into two categories based on growth rate: indolent (slow-growing) and aggressive (fast-growing).

3. True or False? One approach to the treatment of certain blood cancers is to trigger cancer cell “suicide.”

True
False
Some medicines are designed to trigger signals that kill cancer cells through a process of cell “suicide”, also known as apoptosis.

4. Approximately how many people in the United States are diagnosed with some type of lymphoma each year?3

50,000
90,000
150,000
200,000
Approximately 90,000 Americans will be diagnosed with some type of lymphoma in 2023.

5. True or False? Fossil records show evidence of the effects of blood cancer, and an illness similar to leukemia was observed by the ancient Greeks.4

True
False
The story of blood cancer goes back thousands of years.

6. Antibodies are powerful tools because they can recognize a disease target among billions. Which type of antibody can bind to more than one target to fight a disease?5

Anti-CD20 antibodies
Bispecific antibodies
Monoclonal antibodies
Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs)
Bispecific antibodies are designed to recognize and bind to two different targets. This approach accounts for the fact that more than one pathway is often at the root of a disease.

7. True or False? The first targeted cancer therapy ever approved by the FDA was a monoclonal antibody for treating a blood cancer.5

True
False
The first targeted medicine ever approved by the FDA was a monoclonal antibody that hunts down the cells that comprise non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma.

8. What measure of a medicine’s efficacy uses newer, highly sensitive technologies to search for traces of certain blood cancers?6

Overall survival (OS)
Progression-free survival (PFS)
Minimal residual disease (MRD)
Quality of life (QoL)
Minimal residual disease (MRD) is an endpoint that uses newer, highly sensitive technologies to search for traces of certain blood cancers where traditional tests may have come up clean.

9. A form of chemical warfare used in World War I was found to stop new blood cells from forming. This led to the idea that in limited doses, these poisonous compounds might be harnessed to fight blood cancer. Which chemical agent was it?7

Tear gas
Chlorine
Phosgene
Mustard gas
A mustard gas-based treatment was the first chemotherapy to achieve durable remissions in lymphoma.

10. In the past 50 years, the number of people living with cancers, including blood cancer, has increased by __.3

More than 25%
Nearly 50%
100%
Almost 400%
Over the past 50 years the number of people living with cancer has increased from 3.7 million to 18.1 million.