Acute leukemias are the most common type of childhood malignant illnesses. For this reason, their diagnosis is very important in clinics. There are many candidate molecular markers for diagnosis of acute leukemias today. Polyamines (PA) are ubiquitous cationic molecules, which provide cell homeostasis. They especially increase in rapid dividing cells. In many studies, PAs are shown as good prognostic and diagnostic markers in malignancies. Their usage in clinics is easy applicable and there are many methods for estimation of polyamines from samples. [Turk J Cancer 2004;34(1):5-10]