To unravel the relation of HLA-DRB1*15 with childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL), 162 childhood patients with ALL were selected for this investigation. 1 000 normal umbilical cord blood samples were used as control.HLA-DRB1*15 and HLA-DRB5* were typed by polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis. The relation of HLA-DRB1*15 with childhood ALL was studied by calculating the chi-square test and relative risk. The results showed that the antigen frequencies and allele frequencies of HLA-DRB1*15 in childhood patients with ALL were 40.12% and 22.62% respectively, while the antigen frequencies and allele frequencies of HLA-DRB1*15 in control were 30.80% and 16.81% respectively, there were significant difference between them (chi(2) = 5.560, p = 0.018, RR = 1.506). In conclusion, the antigen frequencies and allele frequencies of HLA-DRB1*15 in childhood patients with ALL were higher than those in control, so the HLA-DRB1*15 gene is one of the genetic risk factors for childhood ALL. These preliminary data may be useful for further study on the pathogenesis of childhood ALL.