Objective To investigate the expression of survivin and B7-1 mRNA in acute leukemia and the prognostic significance in AL.Methods The expression of survivin and B7-1 mRNA was measuredin 64 AL patients with semi-quantity reverse transcription(RT)-PCR.14 adults were tested as normal controls(NC)and K562,NB4 cell lines were also tested as positive controls.Results The positive rates of survivin was higher than that of normal controis(NC).The expression of survivin in de novo AL Was higher than that in NC,while it decreased in complete remission(CR)patients.In relapsed patients the expression of survivin increased again.Meanwhile the expression of B7-1 has no signifieient change,but the expression Was lower than that in NC.In AL patients,the CR rate of positive survivin cases was lower than that of negative survivin cases.Conclusion Abnormal expression of survivin and B7-1 genes Was related to pathogenesis and progression of AL and it can serve as a marker of relapse and poor prognosis in AL.