AIM and METHOD: The adhesion behavior of bone marrow stromal cells(BMSC) in children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia(ALL) to bone marrow mononuclear cells(BMMC) and Raji cells were investigated by MTT method. The expression of adhesion molecules ICAM-1 and VCAM-1 were detected by flow cytometry. RESULTS: The adhesion ability of BMSC in acute period of ALL to BMMC was lower than that of control group. The adhesion ability of BMSC in long term remission period of ALL to Raji cells higher than that of control group. The expression of ICAM-1 on the surface of BMSC in acute period of ALL is much lower than that of control group. CONCLUSIONS: The adhesion of BMSC to BMMC or tumor cells in children with ALL was abnormal. The abnormal adhesion behavior might be partially due to the changed expression of adhesion molecules on BMSC.