DNB Pathology General Pathology previous-year questions (2020–2025)

Paper I

• Q1(a) — Single nucleotide polymorphisms & copy number variations
• Q1(b) — Micro-RNA
• Q2(a) — Telomeres, telomerase, telomeropathies, cellular ageing & senescence
• Q2(b) — Genomic imprinting & associated diseases
• Q3(a) — HLA typing
• Q3(b) — HLA typing
• Q4(a) — Oncogenic viruses
• Q5(a) — Diet and cancer
• Q5(b) — Obesity and cancer
• Q6(a) — Anti-nuclear antibodies (ANAs)
• Q7(b) — Lepra reactions
• Q8(a) — Cell cycle regulators & cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors (CDKIs)
• Q8(b) — BRAF mutation
• Q10(a) — Severe combined immunodeficiency
• Q10(b) — NK cells

Paper II

• Q4 — Cytogenetics testing and its utility

Paper I

• Q2 — Role of "unfolded protein response in cell injury"
• Q3 — What is T-cell and macrophage crosstalk? Give an example of how this phenomenon works
• Q4(a) — Pathological effects of free radicals
• Q4(b) — Retinoblastoma gene
• Q5(a) — Describe Type II hypersensitivity with examples
• Q5(b) — Immunological tolerance — central tolerance & autoimmunity
• Q6(a) — What are hepatotropic viruses and why are they hepatotropic?
• Q6(b) — What are hepatotropic viruses and why are they hepatotropic?
• Q7 — Graft-versus-host disease & its differences from transplant rejection
• Q8 — Epigenetics and cancer
• Q9(a) — Radiation injury — mechanism of cell death & systemic changes
• Q9(b) — Chemokines in inflammation
• Q10(a) — Trinucleotide (triple) repeat disorders
• Q10(b) — Toll-like receptors

Paper II

• Q6 — A 42-year-old male patient presented with gross cardiomegaly and an endomyocardial biopsy revealed cardiac amyloidosis. In the absence of other systemic pathology and family history, the clinician was interested to know the type of amyloid protein deposited in this case before starting appropriate therapy. By which method the amyloid protein can be typed in this case? White a short note on the platform to be used

Paper III

• Q3(a) — Dilated cardiomyopathy
• Q3(b) — Cardiac (valve) vegetations
• Q4(a) — Autoimmune pancreatitis

Paper I

• Q2 — Role of complement in Renal diseases
• Q3 — Ferroptosis
• Q5 — Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs / NETosis)
• Q8(a) — Pathophysiology of Sarcopenias and preventive measures
• Q10 — Endothelium in health & disease

Paper II

• Q4 — Gene silencing

Paper IV

• Q1 — Immunotherapy in haematolymphoid malignancies
• Q6 — Describe the approach to diagnosis of primary immunodeficiency disorders
• Q10 — EBV oncogenesis in Haematolymphoid malignancies with emphasis on methods of its detection

Paper I

• Q1 — CAR-T cell therapy
• Q2(a) — Mechanism of cell death in ischemic & hypoxic injury
• Q2(b) — Types of amyloid
• Q3(a) — Clinical use of inhibitors of prostaglandins & leukotrienes
• Q4(b) — Non-coding DNA — significance
• Q5 — Intermediate filament proteins — types, diseases, role in determining cell of origin of tumours
• Q6(a) — ANCA- associated vasculitis
• Q6(b) — Pathophysiology & lab diagnosis of alkaptonuria
• Q7(a) — Role of T-cells in cancer
• Q7(b) — Role of MYC overexpression in neoplasia
• Q8(a) — Ferroptosis
• Q8(b) — Mosaicism (gonadal) & chimerism
• Q9 — Infarction — morphology, determinants & troponin in acute MI

Paper II

• Q5(a) — CRISPR technology

Paper III

• Q5 — NTRK fusions in different tumour types & methods of detection

Paper I

• Q1 — Obesity and cancer
• Q2(a) — Diagnosis of infectious agents in tissue — routine & special techniques
• Q2(b) — Functions of Vitamin A, effects of its deficiency and toxicity
• Q4 — T-cell mediated hypersensitivity reactions
• Q5 — Pigments in health & disease / endogenous pigment disorders
• Q6(a) — Enlist occupations associated with enhanced risk for carcinogenesis
• Q6(b) — Enlist occupations associated with enhanced risk for carcinogenesis
• Q7 — Pathophysiology of osteoporosis and preventive measures against it
• Q8 — Types of amyloid
• Q9 — Nanotechnology and gene therapy in diagnosis and therapeutics
• Q10 — Describe the pathology of IgG4 related disease

Paper II

• Q4 — CAR-T cell therapy
• Q9(a) — Hemoparasites and recent diagnostic modalities

Paper III

• Q7(a) — Giant cell myocarditis
• Q9(a) — Renal lesions in SLE
• Q9(b) — Noninfectious vasculitis

Paper I

• Q1 — Discuss the role of Matrix metalloproteinases in tumour invasion and metastasis and their tumorogenic effect
• Q2 — Describe the role of p53 in neoplasia
• Q3 — Define Anoikis. Discuss the mechanism of Anoikis and its role in cancer progression
• Q5(b) — Immune checkpoint inhibitors
• Q6(a) — Latest marker for early diagnosis of sepsis
• Q6(b) — Telomeres, telomerase, telomeropathies, cellular ageing & senescence
• Q8(b) — Tumour markers
• Q9(a) — Role of epigenetics in diabetes mellitus
• Q9(b) — Micro-RNA
• Q10(a) — Air pollutants — pathological effects, particulate matter & lung disease
• Q10(b) — Immunological tolerance — central tolerance & autoimmunity

Paper III

• Q4 — Discuss Epstein Barr Virus (EBV) associated reactive and neoplastic lymphoid proliferations in the lymph node
• Q9(a) — Discuss laboratory diagnosis of hepatitis
• Q10(a) — Cardiac (valve) vegetations

Paper IV

• Q8(a) — CAR-T cell therapy

Paper I

• Q1 — Discuss the emerging applications of stem cell therapy
• Q2(a) — Radiation injury — mechanism of cell death & systemic changes
• Q2(b) — Types of collagen
• Q3(a) — Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs / NETosis)
• Q3(b) — Driver mutations and passenger mutations
• Q5 — Intermediate filament proteins — types, diseases, role in determining cell of origin of tumours
• Q6(a) — Genomic imprinting & associated diseases
• Q6(b) — Pathophysiology and lab diagnosis of phenylketonuria
• Q7(a) — Necrotizing non-caseating granulomatous diseases — differential diagnosis & lab diagnosis
• Q7(b) — The RAS oncogene in neoplasia
• Q8(a) — Pseudotumours
• Q8(b) — Monoclonality of tumours
• Q9 — Latest marker for early diagnosis of sepsis
• Q10(a) — Host–prosthetic (biomaterial) interactions

Paper III

• Q3(a) — Discuss the pathology of cardiomyopathies
• Q9(b) — SDH-deficient neoplasia & familial paraganglioma syndromes

Paper IV

• Q6(b) — Hemoparasites and recent diagnostic modalities
• Q8(a) — Discuss familial qualitative disorders of leucocytes

Paper I

• Q1 — What are the cellular responses to stress and injury. Describe briefly pathologic calcification
• Q2 — HLA gene and autoimmunity
• Q4 — Pathophysiology of Covid-19
• Q5 — Describe the pathology of IgG4 related disease
• Q6 — Discuss the mechanisms of various types of hypersensitivity reactions
• Q8 — Pigments in health & disease / endogenous pigment disorders
• Q9 — Autophagy — mechanism, molecular biology, role in health & disease
• Q10(a) — Necroptosis

Paper II

• Q8(a) — SMARCB1/INI1 deficient tumors
• Q9(a) — Karyotyping

Paper I

• Q1 — Chemokines in inflammation
• Q2(a) — Telomeres, telomerase, telomeropathies, cellular ageing & senescence
• Q2(b) — Oncogenic viruses
• Q3(a) — T helper cell subsets
• Q3(b) — Role of growth factors in tissue repair
• Q4 — Spectrum of autoantibodies in SLE
• Q5(a) — Metabolic syndrome X
• Q6(a) — Describe the role of tensins in health and diseases
• Q7 — Describe the role of p53 in neoplasia
• Q8(a) — Cancer stem cells
• Q8(b) — Diagnosis of infectious agents in tissue — routine & special techniques
• Q10 — Describe the approach to diagnosis of primary immunodeficiency disorders

Paper II

• Q1(a) — Epigenetics and cancer
• Q4(a) — Immune checkpoint inhibitors
• Q4(b) — Graft-versus-host disease & its differences from transplant rejection
• Q6(a) — SDH-deficient neoplasia & familial paraganglioma syndromes
• Q6(b) — Immune complexes - their detection and role in diseases
• Q8 — Discuss the role of epithelial mesenchymal transition in neoplastic and non-neoplastic conditions
• Q9(a) — Genomic imprinting & associated diseases
• Q10 — What is tumour microenvironment? Describe its role in cancer progression and metastasis

Paper III

• Q2(a) — Describe the pathology of IgG4 related disease
• Q10 — SMARCA4 deficient tumours

Paper IV

• Q10(b) — Complications of falciparum malaria and their pathogenesis

Paper I

• Q1(a) — Describe Type II hypersensitivity with examples
• Q1(b) — Describe Type II hypersensitivity with examples
• Q2(a) — Enumerate the hallmarks of cancer
• Q2(b) — Enumerate the hallmarks of cancer
• Q3(a) — Autophagy — mechanism, molecular biology, role in health & disease
• Q3(b) — Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs / NETosis)
• Q4(a) — Role of "unfolded protein response in cell injury"
• Q4(b) — Role of "unfolded protein response in cell injury"
• Q5(a) — Proteasomes
• Q5(b) — Cell-cell interactions
• Q6(a) — Infarction — morphology, determinants & troponin in acute MI
• Q6(b) — Infarction — morphology, determinants & troponin in acute MI
• Q7(a) — Role of complement system in inflammation
• Q7(b) — Morphological changes in severe acute malnutrition
• Q8 — Air pollutants — pathological effects, particulate matter & lung disease
• Q9(b) — Transmission patterns of single-gene disorders
• Q10 — Define apoptosis with examples. Discuss intrinsic pathway of apoptosis

Paper II

• Q5(a) — Antibody-mediated rejection in heart transplant
• Q5(b) — Cytogenetics testing and its utility
• Q6 — Obesity and cancer
• Q7(b) — Role of angiogenesis in tissue engineering
• Q10(a) — Mosaicism (gonadal) & chimerism

Paper III

• Q5(b) — Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy

Paper IV

• Q2 — Briefly describe stem cell harvesting in autologous stem cell transplantation (ASCT) and enumerate the complications of ASCT
• Q6(a) — Targeted therapy in hematological neoplasms
• Q10(b) — Haematological manifestations in COVID-19

Paper I

• Q1 — Describe the pathophysiology of hypovolemic shock. Discuss the expected autopsy findings in a case of death from hypovolemic shock due to upper GI bleed
• Q2(a) — Toll-like receptors
• Q2(b) — Spectrum of autoantibodies in SLE
• Q3(a) — Atherosclerosis — cellular & immunological interactions in plaque, role of neutrophils
• Q3(b) — Types of amyloid
• Q4(a) — Regulators of angiogenesis
• Q5(a) — Non-coding DNA — significance
• Q5(b) — Trinucleotide (triple) repeat disorders
• Q6(a) — Telomeres, telomerase, telomeropathies, cellular ageing & senescence
• Q6(b) — Inflammasomes
• Q7(a) — Role of growth factors in tissue repair
• Q7(b) — Pathogenesis of ascites
• Q8(a) — Xenobiotics
• Q8(b) — Pyroptosis and its role in health and disease
• Q9(a) — Cellular Housekeeping
• Q9(b) — Cell cycle regulators & cyclin-dependent kinase inhibitors (CDKIs)
• Q10 — Pathophysiology of Covid-19

Paper II

• Q8(b) — Staining methods to demonstrate amyloid protein

Paper III

• Q4(a) — Noninfectious vasculitis
• Q5(b) — Atherosclerosis — cellular & immunological interactions in plaque, role of neutrophils
• Q9(a) — Restrictive cardiomyopathy

Paper I

• Q1 — Latest marker for early diagnosis of sepsis
• Q2 — Karyotyping
• Q4(b) — Epigenetics and cancer
• Q5(a) — Regulators of angiogenesis
• Q5(b) — HLA gene and autoimmunity
• Q6(a) — Xenobiotics
• Q6(b) — Atherosclerosis — cellular & immunological interactions in plaque, role of neutrophils
• Q7 — Role of T-cells in cancer
• Q9(a) — Fibrinoid necrosis
• Q9(b) — Cytosolic calcium and cell injury
• Q10 — Pathophysiology of bone healing

Paper II

• Q7(a) — Gene silencing

Paper III

• Q1 — ANCA- associated vasculitis