Background and aim: The urokinase-type plasminogen activator system which consists of a proteinase (the urokinase-type plasnimogen activator, uPA), a receptor (the urokinase-type plasminogen activator receptor uPAR or CD87) and inhibitors (PAI-1) are enriched in several types of tumors and involved in proteolysis, cell migration and invasion. High expression of uPA and uPAR are associated with an increased relapse rate and shorter survival in breast and colorectal carcinomas. The aim of the present work is to study the expression of uPAR in acute leukemia at initial diagnosis to shed light on the prognostic relevance of this marker in acute leukemia. Subjects and methods: The present study included 54 newly diagnosed adult acute leukemia patients, and 20 healthy controls. The expression of the uPAR was estimated by flow cytometric analysis. Results: The results of the present work revealed (1) uPAR expression was heterogeneous in different FAB subtypes with highest expression in monocytic leukemia (M4/M5). (2) The high uPAR positivity in AML patients predicted poor response to therapy.(3)Survival analysis showed that the patients with CD87 positive expression had significantly shorter overall survival. Conclusion: there is a negative prognostic impact of the high expression of CD87 on the survival rate of AML patients, so it is an important prognostic marker in AML.