Abstract： Objective To investigate the expression of preferentially expressed antigen of melanoma (PRAME) gene in acute leukemia and its clinical significance.Methods PRAME mRNA levels were detected in bone marrow samples from 119 cases with acute leukemia (out of which 97 cases were acute myeloid leukemia, 22 cases were acute lymphocytic leukemia) by TaqMan based real-time quantitative PCR methods and compared it with the expression of FLT3 gene. Results PRAME mRNA was revealed in 50 of 97 AML (51.5 %), 8 of 22 ALL (36.4 %), and 5 patients were found little expression of PRAME in 11 healthy subjects and 17 non-blood disease patients. However, 17 AML, and 3 ALL patients with PRAME expression had no detectable FLT3. 9 patients with the expression of both PRAME and FLT3 genes were monitored in short follow-up. The lower level of PRAME was detected in all patients when they were in complete remission (CR) after chemotherapy. Conclusion PRAME gene was expressed in acute leukemia patients and will hopefully become a symbolic gene during the course of diagnosis and treatment in acute leukemia.