Abstract: To investigate the incidence of p16 gene homozygous deletion in leukemia, and the relations between p16 gene homozygous deletion and the prognosis of leukemia, 48 patients were studied by multiplex polymerase chain reaction(PCR)to detect p16 gene homozygous deletion. P16 gene homozygous deletion were detected in 4 of the 48 patients. They were two patients with M₂, one patient with NHL accompany with ALL, and one patient with CML in blast crisis, respectively. P16 gene homozygous deletion correlates with adverse prognosis features. The patients with p16 homozygous deletion had poor response to chemotherapy, and died shortly after p16 gene homozygous deletion was detected. The homozygous deletion of p16 gene palys an improtent role in the pathogenesis and the development of some leukemia. The patients with p16 gene homozygous deletion have a poor prognosis.

Key words: leukemia, p16 gene, homozygous deletion