To determine whether the Fas receptor-Fas ligand (FasR-FasL) system, which triggers apoptosis in sensitive cells, is an important mechanism of cytotoxicity in myeloid leukemia. FasL expression was investigated in myeloid leukemia cells and its upregulation by a combination of IL-2 and INF-gamma, +/- as well as its function of inducing Jurkat cells to apoptosis mainly by flow cytometry (FCM). Results showed that leukemia cells expressed more FasL (3.59 +/- 1.05)% than that expressed in the healthy individuals (0.36% +/- 0.16)%, P < 0.001 and the FasL was upregulated (7.78 +/- 3.40)%, P < 0.01 when treated with IL-2 and IFN-gamma. Leukemia cells were co-cultivated with Jurkat cells for 24 hours. Then Jurkat cells were labeled with FITC-annexin V and PE-CD3 to assess apoptosis by FCM. The leukemia cells, which had been incubated with IL-2 and IFN-gamma, induced more Jurkat cells to apoptosis than the ones that freshly isolated from the peripheral blood mononuclear cells, which raised the figure from (8.28 +/- 1.61)% to (10.73 +/- 2.16%). And the supernatant derived from the former killed more Jurkat cells than the latter. It was concluded that human myeloid leukemia cells expressed high levels of functional FasL that can kill Jurkat T-cells by apoptosis. FasR-FasL sys tem could play a role in the "immune escape" and relapse of the leukemia. The induction of apoptosis through the Fas pathway might be a novel and effective approach for leukemia immunotherapy.