Written by Dr. Roupen Odabashian MD, FRCPC
Hematologist-Oncologist | Founder, MeDucation AI | Updated November 2026
The verdict: Hoffman and Abeloff's Hematology-Oncology Review is a reasonable standalone question-and-answer book for ABIM prep, but it is a single edition from 2017 with no evidence of a newer version[1], which means roughly a decade of hematologic malignancy classification changes, new drug approvals, and guideline revisions are simply not in it. It is not a bad book. It is a dated one. If you want a print or eBook Q&A companion to sit next to your reading, it still does that job[1]. If you want something that reflects what is actually on the 2026 exam blueprint, you need to pair it with something that gets updated, and that is where the rest of this comparison matters.
Conflict of interest, up front: I am a practicing hematologist-oncologist and I founded MeDucation AI, which sells a physician-written heme/onc question bank and other board-prep tools. I have no financial relationship with Elsevier, HemOnc.org, ASCO, ASH, or ACP. I will tell you plainly where my own product fits and where it does not, and I will point you to the resources that genuinely outperform it for certain jobs.
How do the realistic study options for heme/onc boards compare?
Here is a ranked comparison based on what each resource actually is, not what it claims to be.
Resource | Format | Price | Currency of content | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
HemOnc.org | Free online database, regimens, references, guideline links | Free[2] | Actively maintained; content figures updated as recently as June 2025[2] | Looking up regimen details and primary literature fast, free, anytime |
ACP MKSAP | Digital subscription, question bank plus text | Pricing varies by membership tier[3] | Continually reviewed per ACP[3] | Internal medicine fellows who want oncology embedded in a broader IM review |
ASH-SAP (via ASH Fundamentals for Hematology Fellows) | Online text plus Q&A bank | Included for enrolled fellows; textbook alone is $430 at Associate member price[4] | 9th edition referenced as current access point[4] | Hematology-specific deep review, especially for fellows whose program enrolls 100% of fellows |
Hoffman and Abeloff's Hematology-Oncology Review | Single-volume Q&A book, 1st edition, with eBook access | Price not published on the publisher page reviewed[1] | 2017 publication, 1st edition, no newer edition found[1] | A standalone Q&A companion to Abeloff's Clinical Oncology and Hematology: Basic Principles and Practice[1] |
Hematology/Oncology Secrets | Q&A format textbook, roughly 100 chapters | Used and new copies available at varying prices[5] | 3rd edition, published 2003[5] | Pearls-style conceptual review, not for current drug or guideline detail |
HemeOncQuestions (HOQ) | Online question bank, single author | Not verified in this review | Maintained since 2014 by one author | High-volume, low-cost core question practice |
MeDucation AI Question Bank | Online question bank, physician-written and physician-reviewed | See MeDucation's own pricing page | Explanations include embedded images, tables, and direct PubMed links | Fellows who want a reviewed bank plus an AI study layer (notebook, flashcards, mind maps) around it |
A note on that table: not every price above is independently confirmable from a live source. Where a price is not published, I have said so rather than guessing, and you should check the vendor's own page before buying.
What exactly is Hoffman and Abeloff's Hematology-Oncology Review?
It is a single-volume, 400-page Q&A review book published by Elsevier, first edition, dated November 2017, authored by Claudine Isaacs[1]. The publisher describes it as containing "more than 1,000 board-style questions, answers, and rationales" plus "three online practice tests per specialty that follow the ABIM exams blueprint"[1]. It is explicitly positioned as both a standalone review and a study companion to Abeloff's Clinical Oncology and Hematology: Basic Principles and Practice[1]. It comes with an Expert Consult eBook version, searchable across devices[1].
