BAX/BCL2 ratio in pediatric AML has not been evaluated. In this first prospective study, we evaluated BAX/BCL2 transcript and RMFI ratio in 64 patients using real‐time PCR (TaqMan Probe chemistry) and flow‐cytometry, respectively. There was no correlation of BAX/BCL2 transcript ratio with RMFI ratio (R = −0.05; P = 0.715). Patients with WBC count >50,000/mm³ had lower BAX/BCL2 RMFI ratio (P = 0.043), whereas no difference in ratio was observed among patients of different cytogenetics subgroups (P = 0.786). Higher BAX/BCL2 RMFI ratio was associated positively with CR rate (P = 0.03), but this study was unable to show that it translated into improved EFS or OS. Pediatr Blood Cancer 2013;60E63‐E66. © 2013 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.