Chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) is a clonal myeloproliferative disorder of hematopoietic stem cells. It is characterized at the cytogenetic level by the Philadelphia (Ph) chromosome and at the molecular level by the BCR/ABL gene rearrangement. Bone marrow derived mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) are pluripotent stem cells that can differentiate into several mesenchymal tissues. The objectives of the present study were to observe the biological characteristics of MSCs from CML patients and to determine whether MSCs harbor the abnormal BCR-ABL translocation similar to CML bone marrow cells. We isolated and characterized MSCs from the bone marrow of 15 newly diagnosed Philadelphia positive untreated CML patients. Our results showed that MSCs can be readily isolated from CML marrow and exhibit major expansion potential. Flow cytometry analysis revealed the typical MSC phenotype. Moreover, MSCs do not harbor the BCR-ABL translocation confirmed by Karyotype and real time PCR. Therefore, we conclude that MSCs from CML patients express the typical MSC phenotype, and do not express the BCR-ABL gene. Since MSCs are able to support engraftment of hematopoietic stem cells in stem cell transplantation (SCT) as well as suppress alloreactive T cells causing graft-versus-host disease, this current study thus provides evidence that in a SCT setting of CML patients, autologous MSCs could be a source of stem cell support in future cell therapy applications.